Shell Cove Park Deck

​Sometime around 1867, in the City of Sheffield Lake, along the shale cliffs of Lake Erie, a man named Jay Terrell found discovered the fossils of a "terrible fish". The fossils were later named in his honor as Dinichthys Terrelli. Terrell was the first to discover this fossil. In later years similar fossils were discovered in the shale cliffs of Rocky River.
 
This creature, now known as Dunkleosteus Terrelli, was a massive arthrodire (an extinct, joint-necked, armor-plated fish) that lived in the Devonian Sea. The Devonian Sea covered much of eastern North America some 354-364 million years ago. 

​Dunkleosteus Terrelli had an incredible set of shearing jaws and was clearly the top marine predator in the Devonian Period. The Devonian Period has also been called the "Age of Fishes" for good reason. A partial fossil skeleton of Dunkleosteus terrelli greets ​you as you enter the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The City of Sheffield Lake retained Bramhall Engineering in the fall of 2016 to prepare construction documents for a wood observation deck and permeable paver walkway at Shell Cove Park. Pat Hastings, the Sheffield Lake City Superintendent, spearheaded the project. Through his efforts the City secured a $90,000 grant to replace an existing wood structure with one that is handicap accessible. Hastings said he was very fond of that old wood deck. You see, he had worked on the original construction when he was in high school.
 
Scott Maiden and Keith Rohal completed the field work. Aaron Appell, Steve Miglets and Clarence Watkins prepared the plans.