New Nature Preserve In Slavic Village Reclaims Once Damaged Land

CLEVELAND — During a dedication ceremony on Friday, kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs seed "bombed" the four-acre Morgana Bluffs Nature Preserve and Learning Center in Slavic Village. The preserve will be used for nature-based programming by the Clubs, and the park will be open to the public.

Seed bombing — which saw kids spread mud-encased milkweed seeds — will encourage native milkweed plants to sprout in the once dilapidated industrial site. A symbol of the property's transformation into the Morgana Bluffs Nature Preserve.

The preserve's dedication ceremony was attended by public officials, advocates, project partners, and members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland's Broadway Club. The event marked the opening of the preserve, where the Cleveland Worsted Mill Company complex once stood.

The property is near the Broadway Club, the Morgana Run Trail, and the Cleveland School District's Mound STEM School.

“All kids need outdoor experiences to become responsible and productive adults. This project will give approximately 1,700 youth in this neighborhood access to a place where they can discover nature,” said Ron Soeder, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland.

The preserve features trails, boardwalks and an amphitheater and was funded with money from the state's Clean Ohio Greenspace Conservation Fund ($297,790), a Green Infrastructure Grant from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District ($242,420) and the Ohio & Erie Canalway Strategic Initiative Program ($46,230).

The four-acre site will also improve existing wetlands, restored the landscape and remove invasive plant species that had taken over the area. To help native plants resume dominance, members of the Boys & Girls Clubs tossed milkweed seed "bombs" — seeds encased in mud — into the new preserve. The seed bombs will promote the growth of milkweed, the sole host plant of the endangered monarch butterfly.

“This project is an investment in the neighborhood and the opportunity to turn a vacant lot into a community asset," Soeder said.

Removing Damaged History

The Worsted Mill was active from 1878 to 1956 and was once among the largest garment manufacturers in the nation. The factory was located on the upper property of what is now the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland's headquarters.

Worsted Mill's powerhouse was located on the new Morgana Bluffs preserve.

After the mill closed, the buildings were never fully occupied, though they were used occasionally as warehouses for smaller companies. At other points, the property sat vacant. On July 4, 1993, a fire ravaged the complex, destroying it.

In 2011, Cleveland and the EPA studied the site and remediated the lower portion of the preserve. Crews cleaned up remnants of a junkyard, removed crumbling smokestacks and reviewed fuel tank locations. Remediation also saw the removal of several tons of junk tires and filled in old tunnels that led to the upper mill site.

Now, in 2019, the property has been transformed into a community space for learning about nature.