"It was effectively just a muddy path that wound down there." That's how Ken Kvacek, a longtime Chagrin Valley Jaycee and Chagrin History Center board member, described the route to the falls before the Jaycees built the first stairs, in a Chagrin Valley Times story on the stairway's overhaul.
A lot of downtown work has happened since fall 2025: a bridge, the stairway, a park, new pavement, new crosswalks, a parking lot. Taken separately, each one looked like ordinary maintenance. Put together, they rebuilt the walk from the Triangle down to the river. Nearly all of it is finished before Friday, Nov. 27, when the Lighting of the Greens fills downtown with people on foot.
The stairs the Jaycees built first
The staircase beside the Popcorn Shop and Campane Alley has always been a volunteer project. Kvacek said the Jaycees, founded in 1954, first asked the village for $350 and then built the stairs themselves, designed by a member who was an architect and mechanical engineer. Storms kept washing out the gravel, so in 1964 the stairs were rebuilt in the tiered layout most residents know.
The current replacement follows the same pattern. Chief Administrative Officer Rob Jamieson said the stairway had "reached the end of its usable life." A $30,000 donation from the Chagrin Valley Jaycees helps cover the cost. The plan replaces most of the structure, including the platform railings, with durable, skid-resistant composite material that matches the lowest section, which the village rebuilt about six years earlier. The plan also makes a couple of areas slightly larger to handle the crowds that come to see the falls, and it adds built-in benches at the landing. "It will be beneficial to those taking a break as they go up and down the stairs," Jamieson said.
Work began last fall. The village closed the west-side North Main Street sidewalk by the Popcorn Shop from Oct. 28 to about Nov. 26, 2025, to replace the retaining wall at the top of the stairway. A September 2025 council update said a final phase might follow in spring 2026. The village's May road program update scheduled the "Bell Street Park and Falls Viewing Restoration" for completion in mid-May. The village's facilities page says the falls viewing areas are reached by multiple staircases and close in bad weather. It doesn't give a reopening date for the new stairs.
Bell Street Park, across the river, got the same careful treatment. According to Parks Commission minutes from June 3, 2026, the new topsoil made it through Blossom Time and Memorial Day protected. The goal is to keep the park "mostly green and open with additional seating options," and the protective fence was scheduled to come down the week of June 8. The village planned a rededication of the park that would include the old bridge's keystone and a time capsule buried with the Chagrin History Center.
The bridge that made the rest possible
The park and the stairs both sit next to the North Main Street bridge, so they had to wait for it. In February 2024, the village projected that the bridge rehabilitation would last until February 2026. According to the Chagrin Valley Times, it reopened about five months ahead of that schedule. The village held a ribbon-cutting on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.
Finishing the bridge early gave the village a full spring for the stairway's last phase and the park restoration. That kept them on a separate schedule from the street paving that started in March.
What a year of paving changed on Main Street
Jamieson told the Chagrin Valley Times that the old downtown pavement was 21 years old, "a long, usable life for asphalt pavement in a high traffic downtown business district." The village's March advisory scheduled curb, trench drain and bump-out work for March 24 to May 21, followed by repaving from May 27 to June 26. Most of the paving was done at night to limit the impact on businesses. The finished work includes:
- New pavement on North Main Street from East Washington Street north to Summit, including Grove Hill, all of North Franklin Street, and the stretch of Washington Street between Masonic Alley and Pleasant Drive along the south side of the Triangle.
- Three bump-outs on Main Street, with new signage, according to cleveland.com. These are at the midblock crosswalks. They shorten the distance people have to cross and make pedestrians easier for drivers to see.
- Radar traffic sensors that now control the signals, replacing the old sensors in the pavement.
- Groove-inlaid thermoplastic striping for crosswalks, stop bars and arrows. Striping began July 27 and was expected to run into the week of Aug. 3. Jamieson told cleveland.com the village had asked for extra striping, and that request was the reason the project finished late.
The work was disruptive while it lasted. Jamieson acknowledged that the impact on traffic was "significant," and the contractor added workers and hours to finish sooner. Downtown adjusted around it. With less space available during paving, the village let the North Union Farmers Market expand down North Franklin Street.
New places to stop along the way
The restaurants and shops along the rebuilt blocks have changed too.
Eugene Tavern opened June 24, 2026, at 44 N. Main St., according to Cleveland Scene. The space was formerly home to Flip Side, which closed in 2024, and later Lopez 44. It opened during the summer paving, so this fall is its first season on a finished Main Street.
Lola's Bistro at 86 N. Main St. opened in September 2025, according to cleveland.com, and is taking reservations this month.
Overland at 31 N. Main St. is the retailer's only Ohio location. When it opened in September 2025, its manager called the response "amazing."
All three are on North Main, the street that got the new pavement, bump-outs and striping.
The last lot, and the leaves
One project is still underway. The W. Washington Street municipal lot is being resurfaced from Oct. 5 to Oct. 15, mostly overnight, and the lot has been closing from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. on scheduled nights. Because of rain in the forecast, the village moved the main paving day to Monday, Oct. 12. The lot closes at 3 a.m. that day and stays closed all day. Vehicles still there after 5 a.m. will be towed, and the lot is expected to reopen Tuesday morning. Public parking is available next door at 34 W. Washington St.
Leaf pickup starts the same Monday. The village will collect leaves from Oct. 12 through the end of November, working from south to north in multiple passes. Piles should be in long lines within 4 feet of the curb, with no branches or twigs, and away from hydrants and mailboxes. The last day to put leaves at the curb is Sunday, Nov. 29, and final collection is expected Monday, Nov. 30, weather permitting. The village doesn't run a spring leaf program.
The calendar between now and the lighting
- Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, through Oct. 11. The 17th festival is showing 74 films from 31 countries at venues including Triangle Park and the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre. The village has pointed festival visitors to 34 W. Washington St. for parking while the lot is repaved.
- Art Works at Valley Art Center, through Oct. 21. The exhibition is in the Bowen Gallery at 155 Bell St., a short walk from Bell Street Park.
- The Lion in Winter, Oct. 30 to Nov. 8. The Chagrin Valley Little Theatre production runs at the River Street Playhouse, 56 River St. There's no performance on Halloween night.
- Lighting of the Greens, Friday, Nov. 27. The Chagrin Valley Jaycees hold the Santa Parade at 6 p.m. and the lighting ceremony at 7 p.m. at Triangle Park. The parade route hasn't been announced yet.
The lighting ties the year's work together. The Jaycees decorate the stairway to the falls with garland and lights every holiday season, Kvacek told the Chagrin Valley Times, much as they decorate the bandstand. The group that built the first stairs and helped pay for the new ones will be hanging lights on them for the crowd walking from the Triangle to the river after the parade.
If you're thinking about how a year of downtown changes might fit into your own plans in Chagrin Falls, whether that's walking to dinner at Eugene Tavern or deciding where your next chapter in the village begins, I'm always glad to talk it through. Katerina Alix is here when you're ready. Let's connect.
