Cleveland Metroparks will maintain new outdoor park spaces around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Rock Hall’s expansion. 

Plans are in the works for the Metroparks to maintain a new public park and establish connections from the Rock Hall to a new multipurpose trail that will run along Marginal Road.

The Cleveland Metroparks’ Board of Park Commissioners approved the deal to partner with the Rock Hall in November 2025. 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Greg Harris said maintaining parks and gardens is “a bit out of our wheelhouse.” 

“We’re very fortunate that we didn’t have to look too far to find the right partners in the Cleveland Metroparks to help us out with this,” Harris said, “and we look forward to working with them for years to come.” 

Cleveland Documenter Julia Brookover learned about the Metroparks space at the Rock Hall at the Nov. 20, 2025 Cleveland Metroparks Board of Park Commissioners meeting. Read more about what she discovered in her notes from the meeting, including:

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo renewed its 5-year accreditation with the American Zoological Association.

Connecting E. 55th Street to E. 9th Street

Metroparks’ Chief Operating Officer Joseph Roszak said the conversations between the Rock Hall and the Metroparks happened organically. Metroparks already was planning to build a new trail connector from the East 55th Street Marina where the current trail ends all the way to East 9th Street.

Officials expect to complete that trail – called the Mandel Community Trail – by August. The full trail will wind from the Cultural Gardens on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive through the East 72nd Street fishing area, Gordon Park, and the East 55th Street Marina and new Sailing Center, ending at the Rock Hall’s doorstep on East 9th Street.    

“Being able to provide these connections for both visitors to Cleveland and Clevelanders themselves is really, really exciting,” Roszak said. “To get this trail put in, start seeing people use it, it’s been a long time in the making.” 

Credit: Cleveland Metroparks

Community park will change waterfront  

The new Taylor Family Community Park will replace the hill between the Rock Hall and the Great Lakes Science Center. It will feature walkways between different plant beds and pocket seating areas that will lead down to the water’s edge.  

Clevelanders can eat lunch or just enjoy the greenery at the park, Roszak said.

“There’s potential opportunities for somebody to have an acoustic set in this little mini park,” Roszak said. “People can listen at lunchtime, things like that.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is on track to complete its full expansion project by this fall.

Reporter/Audio Producer (she/her)
I create audio stories meant to engage and inform people in a way that pushes beyond media stereotypes. I aim to build trust between local media and the community, striving to teach people “how” to think about life in Cleveland, not “what” to think.