CLEVELAND -- The idea of straightening the Cuyahoga River to allow freighters to bypass Collision Bend has been discussed for more than 100 years, but a local community development group believes the age-old plan might give Dan Gilbert the extra room he wants to build his Cleveland casino.

Digging a new river channel across the neck of Collision Bend would create an island out of the jutting piece of land and allow large ships carrying iron ore and limestone to bypass the 16-acre site where Gilbert plans to build the Casino.

The Cleveland site hugs Collision Bend, a particularly tortuous stretch of the river named because of occasional accidents.

Tom Newman, executive director of Flats Oxbow Association, said the plan would give Gilbert extra space along the river for parking, and even a marina, beneath the $600 million casino. Flats Oxbow is a community development group representing businesses and residents in the Flats.

Newman said his group presented the idea at a recent meeting with about 40 people representing the shipping industry, the businesses located along with river and Rock Ventures, the partnership building the Cleveland casino.

"It solves a lot of issues," Newman said. "It would save at least an hour for freighters going up and down the river, bringing goods in and out."

"You'd be able to have a marina because you wouldn't have freighters to contend with."

The casino to be built behind Tower City, slated to open in 2013, is one of four approved by Ohio voters.

Unbending the river

The project:

What Gilbert wants:

The proposal:

What's next:

Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert controls the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos, and Penn National Gaming - a Pennsylvania-based gaming company - has the Columbus and Toledo sites.

An early vision for the casino shows a chic riverfront facility wrapped with upscale shops, large-scale video screens and restaurants.

But a big design issue looms: Rock Ventures officials would like to extend the bulkhead at the bend into the river by an average of 29 feet to make room for a seven-level parking garage with 5,000 spaces.

Jennifer Kulczycki, a spokeswoman for Rock Ventures, said she was unaware of the proposal to straighten the river and couldn't comment on it.

The idea is far-fetched to some, ironic to others. The word Cuyahoga means "crooked" to the Indians who settled the area.

But it has come and gone since the Army Corps first brought it up in the 1800s. Most recently, in 1991, the Corps proposed doing a feasibility study on digging the new river channel, a project that became known as the Scranton Rd. cut.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report

Read the 1991 report, obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act, by the Army Corps of Engineerrs on straightening the Cuyahoga River and widening its mouth by clicking here

The Corps labeled the project as a "must" study, but it didn't move forward because of a lack of local interest, according to news stories.

Money also was obstacle.

Not counting the cost of acquiring the property, the new 200-foot wide channel was estimated to cost up to $23 million in 1991. Today, after adjusting for inflation, that would be as much as $37 million.

That also doesn't include the cost of building a bridge to make the new island useable.

Bruce Sanders, a spokesman for the Army Corps, said that Congress would have to authorize digging a new channel. Congress would also have to approve moving the bulkheads into the river as Rock Ventures has proposed. The Corps oversees the operation of the river channel.

Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carrier's Association, said his members were aware of the proposal, but that it is not a part of a plan they are about to present to Rock Ventures. The association represents the 18 companies that operate American-flagged ships on the Great Lakes.

"It's not where we're going," Nekvasil said, though he declined to reveal details.

"We're looking at ways that would allow the casino to go where it wants and allow our vessels to continue to navigate safely and efficiently.

"Basically, it boils down to if they're going to take some room for the casino, we have to find some room to maneuver in other areas of Collision Bend."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: ddavis@plaind.com, 216-999-4808