Outdoor Sauna Complex Planned for Cuyahga Riverfront

Clevelanders tend to think of outdoor activities as being limited to eight or nine months a year.

Dan and Femke Michaels are planning to change that by bringing a touch of Danish wellness to the shores of the Cuyahoga River.

By the fall, the couple hope to open up The Saunagoose, an outdoor sauna complex on the northern edge of the Scranton Peninsula, across the river from Tower City. It would be the first one of its kind in Ohio.

As planned, Saunagoose—an Americanization of the Nordic saunagus—will be an imitation of the kind of facilities the Michaels went to in Copenhagen and Germany when they lived abroad for a decade before returning to Cleveland. It will include hot tubs, private saunas, cold plunge baths and a communal sauna, and be as relaxing in the spring as it will in the winter.

“We knew a city like Cleveland could really use this,” Femke told Scene. “We’re all about embracing the elements instead of avoiding them.”

Through the guidance of a gus master, a typical Danish sauna experience rotates its guests through an icy bath, a hot plunge and a warm sauna complete with essential oils and towel choreography—an aufguss session in Copenhagen culture.

But this is Cleveland, so the Michaels aim to invite a bevy of food trucks, install a café and throw in some fire pits for those who want to hang after the sun goes down.

The site, situated at 1840 Carter Road, is another notch on the redevelopment of the lower, industrial part of downtown, long plagued by empty grass lots and rusty wasteland.

Saunagoose, which is working its plans and designs through city planning this spring, is slated to open up down the road from BrewDog and The Collins Apartments. It would have views across the river of the downtown skyline and the new Cavs performance center and the future site of Bedrock’s 6,000-seat amphitheater.

Visitors will be able to purchase a day pass or membership. Rates have not yet been decided.

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