CLEVELAND, Ohio - Irishtown Bend, the swampy, unbuildable hillside opposite the downtown skyline that threatens to slide into the Cuyahoga River, could become one of the most spectacular urban parks in the industrial Great Lakes.

And it could be a stunning local amenity that would further energize the redevelopment of Ohio City and much of Cleveland's West Side.

Those two visions - regional and local - are driving the latest plans for the future 17-acre park, set to be unveiled Thursday in a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Saint Ignatius High School Breen Center for the Performing Arts, 2008 W. 30th St.

The plan is a hybrid of two earlier versions presented in June, blending active areas such as a playground with areas devoted to history, ecology and skyline views.

"I think it's a compelling vision," said Tom McNair, executive director of the nonprofit Ohio City Inc., the community development corporation that serves the area around Irishtown Bend. "It's everything we could have hoped it would be."

Serving city and region

"The park needs to be a neighborhood and a regional asset," said landscape architect Scott Cataffa, a principal with San Francisco-based CMG, one of the firms working on the project. "This thing needs to operate at those two levels.''

Once the site of the 19th century Irish shantytown from which it takes its name, Irishtown Bend has been a weed-infested wasteland for decades.

Its only residents have been occupants of a homeless encampment overlooking the ore boats and rowing crews that ply the silt-brown waters of the Cuyahoga.

Planners say the homeless will be informed and relocated prior to any work on the hillside.

And work is needed. Geotechnical studies show that the waterlogged slope could slide into the river, blocking access to the ArcelorMittal steel mill upstream, and choking off a $3.5 billion shipping industry that supports 20,000 jobs, according to the Port of Cleveland.

Collaborative teamwork

Ohio City Inc. joined forces with the Port, the City of Cleveland, and the nonprofit LAND Studio to produce the $125,000 plan, now six months in the making.

NOACA, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, provided major funding.

The goal is to create a vision so compelling that it boosts public support and political energy needed to pay for the new park and for a separate $49 million project that would have to come first to stabilize the hillside.

Community interest in the park is rising because it's a gigantic missing piece at the nexus of a network of regional recreational trails emerging along the city's waterfronts on Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River.

Those links include the Towpath Trail, the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail, and the Red Line Greenway.

"To me, the park is the culmination of years of work on so many other projects," McNair said.

Proponents including McNair will seek approval for the new park concept from the city's planning commission on Friday, the morning after the meeting at Breen.

Detailed feasibility analysis

Then they'll spend the rest of 2017 outlining costs and potential phasing, along with a list of assignments for government and nonprofit agencies to make the park a reality.

Planners say an extensive review under the federal National Environmental Policy Act would probably precede any work.

The design team presented two earlier versions of the Irishtown Bend park in June and invited public comment.

One version focused on active recreational uses including a zip line and a "boulder scramble," while the other emphasized more reflective and contemplative uses, such as a broad, sweeping meadow overlooking the Cuyahoga and the downtown skyline.

Since then, CMG, working with the Cleveland office of the engineering firm of Michael Baker International, blended the two earlier concepts.

The latest design, shared in a preview with The Plain Dealer, eliminates the zip line, which drew little public support because it might have blocked skyline views, planners said.

Weaving active and passive uses

Instead, the new design weaves together active recreational and community-oriented activities with calmer and more pastoral areas. All would cascade the hillside from a reconfigured portion of West 25th Street, now seven lanes wide.

Between Bridge and Detroit avenues, West 25th would become a four-lane, tree-lined boulevard designed around transit, pedestrians and bicyclists rather than cars.

The re-do of the street would accommodate a potential bus rapid transit line under consideration by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, planners said.

The park, stretching a quarter-mile in length, would include four zones devoted to the Ohio City Farm, a neighborhood park, a history and ecology area, and the "maritime theater,'' area along the riverfront area.

Zigzag trails would connect those different zones, along with a reconfigured portion of Franklin Boulevard, which descends the slope.

Entry plazas

The farm and neighborhood zones would be joined by the park's major entry plaza at Franklin Boulevard at West 25th Street that would feature a playground connected to areas for court spots.

Another entry plaza, located at the park's northwest corner at Detroit Avenue and West 25th, could include a cultural center designed to commemorate former Cleveland mayor Carl Stokes and Margaret Bourke-White, the photojournalist who launched her career in the 1920s by shooting images of steel mills in the Flats.

The ecology and history zone would incorporate boardwalks over excavated building foundations commemorating the original Irishtown settlement.

It would also include a marshy waterfront area where porous sheet piles and a protected water channel would shelter fish larvae from the bow thrusters of big ore boats on the river.

Detroit Superior Bridge components

The neighborhood park and the ecology and history areas would be edged by a tree-top "canopy walk," rising 22 feet at its highest point, that would connect the hillside through an arch of the Detroit Superior Bridge to residential areas on the west bank of the West Bank of the Flats.

The canopy walk could also be used as an access point to the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge, which once carried streetcars, but is now used occasionally for special events.

At the river's edge, a maritime promenade would bring park users close to the water and lead to an active recreation site under the Detroit Superior Bridge, where swings could be attached to the bridge arches, and a climbing wall would be installed on 19th- century railroad abutments and retaining walls.

Planners involved with the project see such uses as a way to leverage big community benefits from the urgent need to stabilize the Irishtown hillside.

"This is a real community project and everybody sees its value," said Linda Sternheimer, the Port's director of urban planning and development.

"The new design concepts for Irishtown Bend are an important next step in the Port of Cleveland's long-term effort to stabilize the hillside to protect our economy and environment while simultaneously creating a transformative community asset," Will Friedman, Port President and CEO, said in a written statement.

"Momentum for this project is growing," he said, "and we're eager for the public to continue providing input to shape the vision."