page_title: The Flats
section_title: The Flats 1980s-2000s
hierarchical_section_title: The Flats / History / The Flats 1980s-2000s
caption_attribution_description: The Goodtime III coming up the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio
context_page_description: The Flats is a mixed-use industrial, entertainment, and increasingly residential area of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The name reflects its low-lying topography on the banks of the Cuyahoga River.
context_section_description: In the mid-1980s, the Flats saw a resurgence as an entertainment destination, a focal point of the renewed attention given to Cleveland's deteriorating downtown. Underground music venues appeared on the East Bank, while mainstream development first took place on the West Bank.  The Powerhouse, built to power the city's cable cars, was renovated to include multiple bars, restaurants, and an outdoor music venue. Other warehouses and buildings were also renovated into nightlife destinations. At its peak in the early 1990s, the Flats had the highest concentration of bars in the Midwest, with both locally owned bars, nightclubs, and national restaurant chains lining both sides of the river from the mouth to the Oxbow bend. The Flats and Cleveland had soon become an entertainment mecca and destination for the region. The Flats Oxbow Association was formed to help redevelop the Flats, and housing development soon followed on both sides of the river, with new construction and warehouses being converted into condominiums and apartments. 
  The Flats' 20th century heyday as an entertainment destination was short-lived. Three drowning deaths in one month in 2000, along with a city crackdown on fire and health code violations led to the closing of many bars. Patrons becoming scared off due to safety concerns led to a sharp decrease in business.  While this was a boon for the redevelopment for the Warehouse District, the area just up the hill from the East Bank, it sent shock waves through the Flats' redevelopment from which it has never fully recovered. Most of the East Bank went "dark" due to the number of businesses that have closed.  
  In the early 2000s, The West Bank fared better than the East Bank with longtime businesses like Shooters and the Harbor Inn remaining open, and the construction of condominiums at the remains of the Superior Viaduct in 2005.
caption: The Goodtime III tour boat heads up the Cuyahoga River, as seen from the west bank of the Flats
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