With the addition of nearly 1.25 miles of trail, area walkers, bikers and runners will have access to Mill Creek, a lesser-known scenic urban waterway, by spring of next year.
 
The Mill Creek Connector Trail will extend north from Bacci Park, East 71^st Street and Warner Road, to the intersection of Garfield Boulevard and Warner Road. The addition will connect to the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation by way of a curving wooded path in Bacci Park, completed in 2007 as phase one of the project.
 
Features for the new path will include a 150-foot bridge traversing Mill Creek, light industrial scapes, an overlook providing eagle-eye views of Mill Creek and the Cuyahoga River Valley, soil retaining walls that will present as "vertical gardens," and a 130-foot change of elevation, which will be offset by a 1,100-foot switchback to facilitate grades not in excess of the five percent accessibility standard.
 
"The entire trail is ADA accessible," says Sean McDermott, the Metroparks' chief planning and design officer, adding that construction is well underway. "We are actually getting ready to set the bridge over Mill Creek. We will be doing that in November. That will be a major milestone of the project. After that we'll be continuing earthwork up Warner hill." The project is scheduled for completion by June 2015.
 
The unusual mixture of nature and industry that characterizes much of the adjacent Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation will also be inherent on the forthcoming trail.
 
"When you get to the overlook, which is at the top of switchback," he says, "you'll have a view of Mill Creek Valley. You'll also be next to industry, which is an interesting dichotomy."
 
Ground broke on the trail in August. Independence Excavating is proceeding with the $3.293 million project, $1.9 million of which comes from federal funding that is administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The balance is funded by the Metroparks.
 
McDermott notes that the Mill Creek Connector meets several criteria in the organization's strategic plan, such as connecting Cleveland to the inner ring suburbs and furthering the development of the regional greenway system.
 
"When we can get that accomplished, it really is something to celebrate," he says.

 

Urban Orchid, a floral boutique that opened in Ohio City in 2011, recently celebrated the opening of a second location at 2062 Murray Hill Road in Little Italy. The new shop is located inside an elegant, historic church converted to retail space. With business booming, the owners needed an east side workspace for arrangements and deliveries on the other side of town. Larger arrangements for weddings and other events are still being done in Ohio City.

"We wanted to keep it in the city, but we wanted to be in another neighborhood with a similar feel to Ohio City," says Jeffrey Zelmer, who owns Urban Orchid with Brandon Seitler, a floral designer. "We thought Little Italy was a good opportunity."

Zelmer describes the new space as possessing "amazing" architecture; it offers soaring ceilings, hardwood floors and many other historic features. The owners worked with local contractors John Paul Costello and Alex Loos to custom-build furnishings and work stations using reclaimed materials. "We tried to enhance the architecture of the space, and not mask it off," says Zelmer of the build-out.

The new location boasts a choir loft that allows visitors to get a bird's eye view of the space. Zelmer and Seitler are considering hosting pop-up shops there.

The company already has 75 weddings booked for this year and additional staff has been brought on to keep up with demand. "Brandon’s design capabilities and floral style are exceptional and people really respond to it," says Zelmer. "The word of mouth spead like wildfire. We also carry a really interesting line of locally made merchandise that can’t be found in other places. People are attuned to wanting to shop local, and we are a local business that carries local artists."