Friday, August 13, 1999
Park over the river considered
Piers could extend bank south of Reds ballpark
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Louisville extended a waterfront park into the Ohio on piers.
(Courier-Journal photo)
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Planners are considering extending Cincinnati's riverfront into the Ohio to create enough space for a waterfront park south of the new Reds ballpark.
Later this month, Cincinnati Park Board officials will meet with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to discuss building an extension of up to 120 feet on piers over the Ohio River.
The apron would combine with a sliver of land south of the new ballpark to create a 2-acre park that would connect with the public landing through a series of walkways. The park plan also calls for a 2-acre expansion of the public landing south of the Reds new home.
“We've got a lot of work to do before we know how we're going to do it or if we're going to do it,” said Dave Prather, who is overseeing the riverfront park planning.
A Corps of Engineers official already has told planners that extending the riverfront would be a “regulatory challenge,” Mr. Prather said. But it has been done.
In Louisville, a wedge-shaped structure was built over the river to extend a waterfront park, said Louisville Waterfront Development Corp. President David Karem.
At its widest point, the structure extends about 120 feet over the river, he said.
The project was by no means easy or cheap, Mr. Karem said. It took nearly two years to get approval from the Army Corps district office in Louisville, the same district that includes Cincinnati.
Mr. Karem could not provide specific cost figures Thursday but said the Corps insisted the exten sion be built on piers so the river could flow beneath it. That construction, while much more permanent, also was far more expensive than other alternatives, he said.
“It's a monster piece of construction,” he said.
But the extension looks just like the rest of the park, he said.
“You would have absolutely no clue the river is running beneath you,” Mr. Karem said.
The river is much wider in Louisville. There, the river is about 3,200 feet wide near the waterfront park; it's about 1,500 feet wide just south of Cinergy Field.
Beyond the river's width, the Corps would study how such a project would affect navigation, water quality and fish and wildlife, among other factors, said Chuck Parrish, deputy public affairs officer for the Louisville District of the Corps of Engineers.
“It can be a fairly lengthy process,” he said.
But Cincinnati's park planners have time. Riverfront planners don't expect construction of the $65 million central riverfront park to start until 2003 or 2004.
Park over the river considered
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