Cleveland Metroparks

Cleveland Metroparks serves the Greater Cleveland area, overseeing over 25,000 acres of large destination parks in diverse communities. The historic 235-acre Forest Hill Park was once donated to the cities of Cleveland Heights, affluent and white, and East Cleveland, low income and majority Black, with the requirement that they be used for public recreation. The two cities managed their sides of the park separately, and for much of its recent history, the park has been divided in more ways than one.

Cleveland Metroparks, neighbors of Forest Hill Park, and local community partners jumped at an opportunity for the entire park to become a place that everyone could enjoy, regardless of race or income or which part of the park you were visiting.

The groups hosted three “Forest Hill Park Fun Days” in a part of the park where residents from both neighborhoods frequented, all of which made it clear just how passionate many neighbors were about caring for their local park as they offered ideas for its stewardship. Metroparks partnered with a local nonprofit, See You At the Top, to host outdoor activities at the Fun Days. Participants in the events were given tours of parks, participated in outdoor activities, and connected with community-based organizations. To preserve all that was being shared, Cleveland Metroparks partnered with the Splice Cream Truck, a roving ice cream truck-meets-recording studio, to document oral histories of neighbors’ memories and hopes for Forest Hill Park.

In the end, both neighborhoods were represented just about equally at these events, demonstrating the power of parks to bring people together. Forest Hill Park sits in the intersection of two communities—the Fun Days created a space for people to meet in the middle and enjoy their park together.