The Shaker Heights Highway Fight
Description
This exhibit analyzes the interconnectedness of the Doan Brook Watershed, Shaker Heights (Shaker Lakes), and the proposed Clark-Lee Highway of 1963. Three specific questions are posed through this exhibit: (1) Why is the Doan Brook Watershed important to Northeast Ohio? (2) What were the positive and negative implications of constructing the Clark-Lee Highway? (3) How did the Shaker community re-claim nature?
Dissection and analysis of primary and secondary sources show that the fight to block the construction of the Clark-Lee Highway through Shaker Heights was more than just the grassroots efforts of local garden clubs and their "tennis-shoe-wearing" members. At it's essence, this is a story of political power, social class, and how environmental issues became the crux of one community's struggle to stop urbanization.
Credits
Michael Pennington, Garth Holman, Roy Isaacs, Theresa Douglas
Sections
Doan Brook Watershed
This section provides a history of the Doan Brook Watershed.Clark-Lee Highway
This section provides discussion of the proposed Clark-Lee Highway plan and events that led to a local movement that stopped construction before it began.
Reclaiming the Environment
This section provides a brief history of the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes and attempts made to reclaim land along the Doan Brook Watershed. Thoughts about the future of this watershed leave us with the question, "How far should we go?"