CLEVELAND, OH (BRAIN)--Every Sunday this August plus Sunday September 23, experience University Circle, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens and Martin Luther King Blvd in a whole new way--without your car. Explore and enjoy Rockefeller Park by walking, biking, unicycling, jogging, rollerblading, wheelchairing or baby strolling. MLK Jr Blvd will become people friendly from 10 a.m. to 6 .m. creating another unique destination in Cleveland.
East Blvd runs parallel to MLK Jr Blvd and will be open for motorized traffic. Motorists will utilize their normal exit from I-90 and will be within 100 yards of the normal intersection at East 105th Street. The detour will be clearly marked plus there will be security ambassadors stationed along the route. All the museums and cultural institutions will be open for visitors plus the Walk+Roll Cleveland area will be alive with people friendly activities.
Lois Moss, previously a co-owner of Century Cycles, has put together a dynamic team and partners who are making this dream a reality. She said, “Last year’s experiment was a success and we had almost 10,000 people participate during two Sundays of Walk+Roll Cleveland. This year should be even bigger and better.” The project has drawn national attention including YouTube, a mention in “The Christian Science Monitor” and an upcoming feature in Continental Airline’s inflight magazine.
Walk+Roll Cleveland 2007 is supported by grants from The Cleveland Foundation, St Lukes Foundation, Gund Foundation and Sherwick Foundation. Other financial sponsors include Bicycling Magazine, The Cleveland Clinic, Medical Mutual, Neighborhood Progress Inc, Jones Day, Incite Creative, Jakprints and NOACA. While enough funding has been raised to do the street closing for five Sundays, additional contributions will enable the organizers to include free activities such as in-line skating lessons, yoga, musicians, bicycle safety classes and children’s activities. “It's important to keep the activities free so that all people can participate,” Moss said.
Because Walk+Roll Cleveland is a new grassroots project created on a shoestring budget, it relies on community groups, artists, musicians, visionaries, leaders and volunteers to create the neighborhood activities and to get the word out. Beginning Tuesday July 17, the public and any organization that has activities, ideas, thoughts, concerns, questions or suggestions are encouraged to attend brief presentations about Walk+Roll that will be held at various locations near Rockefeller Park. To get involved, see the schedule of community meetings, watch a four minute video or find out more, go to www.walkroll.com.
Walk & Roll Cleveland is a catalyst to draw more visitors to Rockefeller Park, The Cultural Gardens, University Circle and the surrounding neighborhoods. This event will be energizing, publicizing and revitalizing the area in and around Rockefeller Park and will help further the renaissance that is underway.
