For years, a Solon weekend meant a loop through the retail strips on Aurora, SOM Center, and Solon Road. Groceries, a coffee, maybe dinner at 56 Kitchen or Burntwood, then home. That loop still exists. But if you have not spent much time at Community Park or on the new trail this summer, you may not have noticed that the town's social center is shifting east and north, off the roads and onto a stage, a paved corridor, and a shopping center that is quietly turning into a wellness campus.
This piece is for residents who already know where to buy a birthday cake in Solon. It is a snapshot of what is new, what is under construction, and what to actually put on the calendar between now and Labor Day.
The Park Is Finally Becoming What the Master Plan Promised
Community Park at 6679 SOM Center Road has been a work in progress for two years, and the payoff is arriving this summer. Cisar Field and Sebastian's Playground reopened during Phase 1. The playground carries the name of Sebastian Botirius, a Solon child who died at age four in 2022, and it was designed to be usable by children with disabilities, with equipment that includes a ZipKrooz zipline, climbers, and adaptive swings.
Phase 2 is the one that changes how the park feels. Rec Director Richard Parker told Cleveland Magazine that the second phase is targeted for completion by mid-summer 2026 and adds pickleball courts along with a concession building, restrooms, and maintenance facilities. The bigger deal is a roughly 30-by-30-foot outdoor stage. The city has run its summer concerts and Shakespeare in the Park for years by renting stages. A permanent stage anchored to an expanded community lawn is a different proposition. It means the park stops being a baseball venue that occasionally hosts other things and starts being the default answer to "where is the town gathering this weekend."
If you have not walked through since spring, expect:
- The Auxiliary Parking Lot still closed while contractors finish the pickleball courts, walking paths, and pavilion
- Portable restrooms in place until the new concession and restroom buildings are done
- Sebastian's Playground and Cisar Field fully open, with the varsity field carrying its new press boxes, batting cages, and roughly 200 new stadium seats
The permanent stage is the piece the Rec Department has said it is aiming to have ready in late 2026, which is why the current search for two- and three-piece bands and solo artists for community events is running now.
A Trail You Can Actually Ride to Chagrin Falls On
The single biggest change to a Solon Saturday morning is not in the park. It is the paved, ten-foot-wide corridor that now runs from SOM Center Road toward Chagrin Falls along the former Wheeling and Lake Erie rail line.
Phase 1 of the Solon-to-Chagrin Falls Trail opened in the fall of 2025, running from SOM Center Road to the first bridge over the Aurora Branch of the Chagrin River. Phase 2 is scheduled to be completed this year by Cleveland Metroparks and will connect that segment to the existing trail at Chagrin River Road. When both phases are stitched together, the trip that used to require riding the shoulder on curving two-lane roads becomes a continuous off-street ride of about four miles into the village.
"We have about 900 businesses in Solon. Many of those companies have told us that their workforce is changing. Their employees love to run or hike or walk or bike at lunchtime."
That is Mayor Eddy Kraus, and it is a useful frame for why the trail matters beyond weekend recreation. He has argued that trails in Solon are as much an economic development tool as an amenity, citing property value bumps in the 15 to 25 percent range near comparable corridors and predicting coffee shops, ice cream stops, and bike shops will follow the trail.
The longer arc is bigger. In late 2025, Solon bought more than seven miles of unused rail corridor from Norfolk Southern that stretches across Cuyahoga, Portage, and Geauga Counties, setting up the future Headwaters Connector Greenway. That project is being led by the Open Space Institute and West Creek Conservancy with $2.53 million in Clean Ohio grant funding. The plan is to eventually connect the Headwaters Connector to the Solon-to-Chagrin Falls Trail, giving the East Side a multi-mile network that begins on SOM Center Road and ends in Geauga County.
For a resident, the practical version of that story is simpler. You can now ride from central Solon to Chagrin Falls Village without spending the trip watching for mirrors.
Uptown Solon Is Not a Shopping Center Anymore
The most under-reported change in town is happening in the Uptown Solon Shopping Center at 6025 Kruse Drive. In his February 2026 project report, Mayor Kraus described it as slowly transforming from a shopping center into a health and wellness area. Look at the tenant mix and it is hard to argue.
| Coming or Recently Opened | What It Is |
|---|---|
| Vital Stretch | Assisted-stretch studio, now open |
| Tutu School | Ballet school for young children, now open |
| Cactus Grille | Restaurant, opening soon |
| Elmer Swim School | Swim instruction, opening soon |
| Onyx Gym | Fitness, opening soon |
| Sweet Kiddles | Children's concept, opening soon |
| Burntwood Tavern Solon | Refreshed in the former Max & Erma's space |
That is a wellness cluster with two family-focused kid concepts and one anchor restaurant. Burntwood Tavern's refresh matters because it turned a familiar suburban restaurant footprint into a made-from-scratch neighborhood tavern with two private event rooms, the Harvest Room seating up to 22 and the VIP Room seating up to 60. If you have hosted a milestone dinner in Solon and defaulted to driving to Beachwood or Chagrin, that math has changed.
A block over on SOM Center, the Dunkin at 6353 SOM Center Road was torn down in late February and is being rebuilt with a drive-thru sized to hold up to 25 cars, targeting a reopening between July and September 2026. On Aurora Road, the long-vacant former McDonald's lot at 33560 Aurora is slated to become a Qdoba and Smoothie King. And in November 2025, voters approved rezoning at 37500 Aurora Road for Michael Angelo's winery, which is planned to include a bakery, a restaurant, and a vineyard.
The through-line: Solon's commercial edges are being redeveloped concurrently, and the mix is tilting toward destination uses rather than convenience retail.
New Places to Eat, Actually Worth the Trip
Two openings deserve a specific mention because they change the dinner calculus.
Capriccios of Solon began accepting OpenTable reservations for a February 2026 opening at 28020 Miles Road. The Miles Road corridor has not had a serious sit-down Italian option in a while. Capriccios is running a standing Thursday deal of 50 percent off pizzas for dine-in and carry-out, capped at three discounted pizzas per order. Worth pinning if you have a weekly family dinner rotation.
Burntwood Tavern Solon occupies the former Max & Erma's on Solon Road inside Uptown Solon. The remodel added reclaimed wood, hand-blown glass lighting, and a copper-top bar, and the kitchen runs a made-from-scratch menu with weekend brunch. For catering, the tavern serves four to six guests per selection, useful for open house drop-offs or team lunches.
The rest of the dining bench is where it has been. 56 Kitchen at 33587 Aurora keeps drawing a from-scratch modern American crowd. Mavis Public House in the heart of town leans chef-driven with meaningful vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. Swirl remains the go-to relaxed wine bar. Chicago Deli and Grill at 34390 Aurora is still the Mediterranean-inflected neighborhood deli, and it delivers catering free within a 10-mile radius.
The Late-Summer Calendar, Dated
A short list, meant to be actionable this month:
- Now through August 17 — Solon Community Center at 35000 Portz Parkway is closed August 10 through 16 for annual maintenance week, reopening at 5:30 a.m. Monday, August 17. Both outdoor pools stay open. Arthur Road Pool is running adjusted hours.
- Saturday, August 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Solon Pop-Up in the Park at Community Park, 6679 SOM Center Road. Free admission and parking. The city is partnering with Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show on a curated mix of local artisans, crafters, food trucks, and farmers-market vendors. Overflow parking is available in the lots south of the park by the middle school. Rain or shine.
- Through late summer — Splash Bash 2026 continues at the outdoor pool. Check the city site for the specific date the department posts on Facebook.
- Ongoing — The Solon-to-Chagrin Falls Trail Phase 1 is open from SOM Center Road out to the first bridge over the Aurora Branch. Phase 2 completion is expected this year.
The Pop-Up in the Park is the one to plan around. It is the last big open-air event of the summer before the school calendar takes over, and it is a good excuse to walk the park, see where the pickleball courts and stage have landed, and get a feel for what next summer will look like when the amphitheater lawn is fully in play.
Why This Matters If You Are Staying Put
None of the above is about moving to Solon. It is about what is actually different this year for the people already here. Two data points sit underneath the story. First, the mayor's framing that trail-adjacent property values in comparable Ohio corridors have moved 15 to 25 percent tells you the city is treating the trail network as durable infrastructure, not an amenity that might get value-engineered away. Second, the Uptown Solon tenant list, weighted toward stretch, swim, fitness, and kid concepts, tells you where the shopping center owners think the recurring foot traffic actually lives. Those two facts point the same direction: Solon's civic life is consolidating around wellness, walking, and a real central park rather than around driving between strip centers.
If you own a home here, that is the change worth watching.
If you would like to talk through what any of this means for your own timing, whether you are staying, updating, or eventually thinking about a next move, Smith Garofoli Group is happy to walk through it. Contact Us.
