By Tom Hardesty

The effort to remove the Gorge Dam in Cuyahoga Falls’ Gorge Metro Park is set to continue into the next phase following a delay of about four months.

The project had been put on hold following the Unleashing American Energy Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20. In a statement released Jan. 31, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it had “paused all funding actions related to the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act at this time.”

Built more than 100 years ago, the Gorge Metro Park Dam no longer serves any useful purpose and is one of the largest remaining unresolved water-quality problems for the Cuyahoga River. The removal of the Gorge Dam is another step in a years-long process to restore the Cuyahoga River to its natural state as well as make it cleaner and friendlier to aquatic life.

With the project now green-lighted to resume, Summit Metro Parks expects to close the Highbridge Trail Area of Gorge Metro Park beginning June 2 while an EPA contractor prepares to remove the built-up sediment behind the dam. Other remaining areas of Gorge Metro Park are expected to close later this summer and will remain closed for several years during the project.

“We are thrilled to enter the next phase of the intricate process to remove the Gorge Dam,” Lisa King, executive director of Summit Metro Parks, said. “While we know it is disappointing to keep Metro Park areas closed for an extended period, this project promises to unlock important ecological opportunities for Northeast Ohio and beyond.”

 

While preliminary planning for dam removal has been underway for decades, the “Free the Falls” project will occur over the course of four phases:

– Phase 1, now complete, included design and engineering of the sediment remediation process.

– During Phase 2, which is set to begin this summer, dredged sediment will be transported via temporary pipeline to be safely stored at a sediment placement site that has been prepared at the Chuckery Area of Cascade Valley Metro Park, which is sandwiched between downtown Akron and Cuyahoga Falls.

Additionally, the City of Akron’s Northside Interceptor Tunnel work has been underway at Cascade Valley Metro Park in the same area as the dredged sediment placement site. Cascade Valley Metro Park has been closed since 2023 and will remain closed through the sediment remediation process.

– Phase 3 will include the careful removal of the concrete dam structure.

– As the final step, Phase 4 of the project will be to restore the river channel through Gorge Metro Park to assist the river and surrounding landscape in returning to its natural state. The final three phases are expected to take at least seven years to complete.

“Park visitors should make plans to explore Gorge Metro Park this month ahead of the closure, as the next time it’s opened to the public it may look dramatically different,” King added.

Summit Metro Parks requests that visitors to Gorge Metro Park avoid the area of the T-dock, which is being removed by park district staff to prepare for the sediment remediation project and will require heavy machinery to be operating in the area.

During the park closure, Summit Metro Parks and the City of Cuyahoga Falls are coordinating to permanently remove all sanitary outfall sewers from Gorge Metro Park. The existing sanitary outfall sewers were installed in the early 1900s.

For more information about the project, residents are invited to attend a public meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, May 19 at the Akron-Summit County Public Library Main Branch. For additional project background, visit bit.ly/FREETHEFALLS.