CLEVELAND — News 5 is hitting the road this year, showcasing hidden gems of Northeast Ohio that may have been lost or forgotten about.
Tucked away along Dugway Brooke, the Lake View Cemetery Dam is perhaps best viewed from the air.
The concrete colossus is buried among the headstones and history at Lake View Cemetery.
“The Dam itself is 89 feet tall and 500 feet wide,” said Mark Hornyak, stormwater operations supervisor for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
The project to build the dam was originally started by the City of Cleveland. When NEORSD was was formed, the dam became a responsibility of the district.
“The whole point of this is to prevent downstream flooding,” Hornyak said. “Prior to 1978 there were flood issues down stream and this dam was designed and constructed to alleviate the flooding problems.”
When completed in 1977 and later dedicated in 1978, it was the largest of its kind east of the Mississippi River.
During normal flow patterns, Dugway Brooke runs unobstructed through one of two sluice gates used to control the flow rates.
“Base flow is typically less than a foot,” Hornyak said. “There’s potential with thunder storms that the flow could rise and could be 15 to 20 feet in a matter of 15-30 minutes.”
The massive concrete structure has been a fixture in the cemetery. It has also made an appearance on the silver screen in the film Captain America Winter Soldier.
Movie stars Scarlett Johanssen and Cobie Smulders even signed portions of the interior of the dam.
The Lake View Dam has been a key piece of the district’s stormwater management program, helping keep the cemetery flood-free for more than 40-years.
If you’ve got a suggestion for a hidden gem you’d like News 5 to check out, email us webstaff@wews.com.
