Elephant Crossing at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Rainforest

As wildlife projects go, they don’t get much bigger than the massive African Elephant Crossing opening in 2011 at the always-exciting Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Five acres of grasslands, swimming ponds and a heated outdoor range will make a homey habitat for as many as ten elephants, along with an assortment of other creatures ranging from spectacularly-plumed birds to meerkats and African rock pythons. Get personal with the pachyderms thanks to open-air viewing, a “nose-to-trunk” window, an easily-spotted feeding station and gated elephant crossing, and an education center modeled after an African village. Sitting on the village deck and looking at the aviary and the rolling savanna promises a safari feel right here in Northeast Ohio.

Downtown Casino

Thanks to a November 2009 green light from Ohio voters, downtown Cleveland has a $600 million casino on the way and the first phase of the project could open near Public Square as early as spring 2011. Slated for construction near the shopping and transportation hub of Tower City Center, the North Coast’s only casino will add a new dimension to the already-bountiful entertainment and tourism options in the area within walking distance of Progressive Field, Quicken Loans Arena and the popular East Fourth Street district. While plans call for the full casino to open its doors in 2013, one plan under consideration calls for opening part of the project in Tower City in spring 2011.

Riverfront Aquarium

Long a dining and entertainment fixture on the West Bank of the Flats, the iconic Powerhouse, with its unmistakable smokestacks towering over the Cuyahoga River, is undergoing a transformation that includes bringing an exciting aquarium exhibit to the water’s edge. Developer Jacobs Investment and New Zealand-based leading walk-through aquarium designer Marinescape are teaming up on the 55,000-square-foot undertaking, which will merge the building’s unique architecture with close-up viewing of 22 exhibits. Planned highlights include an 800,000-gallon main tank and 250-foot-long viewing tunnel, and the world’s first aquarium exhibit inside a 60-foot high chimney.

Re-imagined East Bank

By spring 2012, Cleveland visitors should have a brand-new downtown hotel anchoring a $270 million development project connecting the East Bank of the Flats with the energetic and popular Warehouse District. Rows of long-vacant buildings have been razed to clear the way for the rejuvenation of the area and the developer’s plans eventually call for retail and entertainment, a boardwalk, a riverfront beach and 14 acres of public parks. The end result will be a lakefront destination unlike any along the city’s storied and scenic lakeshore.

Expanded Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art continues its progress on a massive makeover due for completion in 2013. This year has already seen the Gartner Auditorium’s $6.1-million concert hall renovation unveiled and late-June marked the long-anticipated reopening of galleries in the museum’s original Beaux-Arts building. More than 900 pieces — many of which have been out of the public’s eye for the past five years — are back on display in 16,000 square feet of renovated space. Among them are the 5000 year-old “Stargazer” statuette and the one-of-a-kind life-sized bronze version of the lizard-slaying Apollo Sauroktonos. Yet to come are the completion of two more Museum wings, the build-out of neighboring restaurants and shopping spaces and the opening of a hands-on interactive Lifelong Learning Center in the fall of 2012.