Making Nature Your Neighbor
We are all together in getting through these tumultuous times. It has become imperative to connect to, and experience Nature if physically or virtually. Throughout Northeast Ohio there are gems to enjoy that are “low risk”, can help you get that breath of fresh air that you deserve, and will connect you to the natural world in which we live. Join us as we continue our journey to explore sites throughout our region and get our weekly West Creek Wednesday: Nature Fix! Together, we’ll explore some well-known trails and hidden gems we think you’ll be excited to learn more about.
The “Hike”: Caribe Bake Shop
Address: 2906 Fulton Rd, Cleveland, OH 44113
Location- Lat/Long: 41°28’20.4″N 81°42’28.2″W
This week’s installment has quite a different feel for those that are following our adventure around Northeast Ohio. This brings you into a Heavily developed area of the West Side of Cleveland off of Fulton Rd. We ventured to Caribe Bake Shop. This small Puerto Rican Bakery has some of the most delicious cuisine a Nature Fix’er could wish for! But their food isn’t what brought us here. The owners of this restaurant are dedicated to being responsible landowners and understand the importance of the platform that they have in the community. Outside of being positive cultural leaders in Cleveland, Caribe Bake shop is dedicated to Stormwater control and retention on site. While building their original building, they have installed a retention cistern under their parking lot to capture “first flush” of storms, but that was not enough! In 2019, West Creek Conservancy and Big Creek Connects (initiated by Bob Gardin of Big Creek Connects) were awarded a NEORSD Green Infrastructure Grant for installing a Pervious paver Patio, Bio Swales, etc on the front courtyard area of Caribe. The western edge of the Caribe building is connected to Fulton Road with a beautifully designed Patio, strategic bioswales on the North and South edges, and gorgeous plantings throughout. It is our recommendation that visitors get a bite to eat and venture out onto the front courtyard to be immersed in this effort.
Conservation/Trail Work
West Creek Conservancy partnered with Big Creek Connects and hired Environmental Design Group to come up with the engineered designs. Our team then brought on Snavely Excavation for the installation of the Green Infrastructure that was designed. This intrinsic partnership of West Creek Conservancy and Big Creek Connects has proven a strong leveraging tool for project development and implementation within the Big Creek Watershed. We are working diligently to expand this partnership even further and create a long-term approach to project development.
Join us weekly for your Nature Fix as we tour properties throughout the region and extend the work of West Creek Conservancy onto your devices.
Caribe Bake Shop: Our “Hike”
