A public-private partnership enables a new 32-acre park to reconnect downtown Cincinnati to the Ohio River
Cincinnati John G. and Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park
A swath of green serves as a front door to the city: Cincinnati John G. and Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park is a popular gathering place that simultaneously offers protection from and a renewed connection to the historic Ohio River
The John G. and Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park is a 32-acre park along the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. The largest in a series of public parks along the high banks of the river, the park is framed by great city landmarks including the Roebling Bridge, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Paul Brown Stadium, and the Great American Ball Park. With implementation currently underway, the riverfront park completes a necklace of open spaces on the river, links statewide recreation trail and bike systems, and reconnects the heart of downtown Cincinnati to the great Ohio River. Sasaki’s design for the park creates an appropriate setting for the Roebling Bridge—a historically significant architectural icon—along with areas for large gatherings, passive recreation, and programmed events.
The Great American Ball Park bookends the park
At night, the park illuminates the coast of the Ohio River
Lighted pathways make the park functional during the day and at night, particularly during evening baseball games
Sports fans enjoy the park’s many seating areas, like these swinging benches, before and after games
Lighted pathways make the park functional during the day and at night, particularly during evening baseball games
Sports fans enjoy the park’s many seating areas, like these swinging benches, before and after games
Connecting the city to the river was a guiding design principal
The park acts as a setting and catalyst for civic activities and entertainment venues and is supported by partnerships with private and public funds. Typical park events range from small picnic-like activities to larger pre- and post-game activities for the Bengals and Reds, concerts, and Tall Stacks—a music, arts, and heritage festival which brings 350,000 visitors to the downtown. The park includes several interactive water features, a performance stage, a sculpture play area, a pavilion, bench swings, water gardens, and Cinergy Trace, a 1000-foot-long riverfront promenade. Public landings and seasonal docking and wharves service the public and commercial cruise boat traffic. Park amenities are enhanced by a series of sustainable strategies, including an integrated bicycle center, support, and locker room facility and a restaurant pavilion supported by a geothermal heating and cooling system.
Unique shading structures offer respite from the sun in the warm summer months
Water play also offers younger park-goers an opportunity to cool off
At dusk, visitors can admire the Roebling Bridge, which spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky
Fans of all ages enjoy the park’s proximity to the Great American Ball Park and its grassy areas that are ideal for perfecting your pitch
Bikers can also enjoy the scenic trails throughout the park
Throughout the park there are spaces for families to relax
Unique shading structures offer respite from the sun in the warm summer months
Water play also offers younger park-goers an opportunity to cool off
At dusk, visitors can admire the Roebling Bridge, which spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky
Fans of all ages enjoy the park’s proximity to the Great American Ball Park and its grassy areas that are ideal for perfecting your pitch
Bikers can also enjoy the scenic trails throughout the park
Throughout the park there are spaces for families to relax
The Walnut Street public realm is activated by a grand stair that leads visitors from downtown Cincinnati into the park
Over the past decade a groundswell of play advocates–including parents, teachers and designers – have begun arguing that a reasonable level of risk in play is essential to children’s healthy development. Play scholarship uses the term risk as a shorthand for environments and activities that challenge children’s physical coordination, social skills, creative imagination and other desirable qualities.
Play elements like the slide, climbing walls, and bridges were designed specifically to help kids achieve feelings of great heights and rapid speeds, while small nooks in the rock outcrops and winding paths capture a sense of mystery
There are no fences separating the play zones from each other or from the rest of the park. Instead, children and families enter the spaces fluidly from all directions, and play spills out into nearby lawns, paths, and the flexible area beneath the bridge abutment.
The new generation of adventure playgrounds excel at inspiring physical activity, a sense of risk and the feelings of pride that go along with accomplishing a difficult challenge
Over the past decade a groundswell of play advocates–including parents, teachers and designers – have begun arguing that a reasonable level of risk in play is essential to children’s healthy development. Play scholarship uses the term risk as a shorthand for environments and activities that challenge children’s physical coordination, social skills, creative imagination and other desirable qualities.
Play elements like the slide, climbing walls, and bridges were designed specifically to help kids achieve feelings of great heights and rapid speeds, while small nooks in the rock outcrops and winding paths capture a sense of mystery
There are no fences separating the play zones from each other or from the rest of the park. Instead, children and families enter the spaces fluidly from all directions, and play spills out into nearby lawns, paths, and the flexible area beneath the bridge abutment.
The new generation of adventure playgrounds excel at inspiring physical activity, a sense of risk and the feelings of pride that go along with accomplishing a difficult challenge
Children have multiple opportunities to interact with water at the park’s adventure playscapes
Every surface of the adventure playground has to be able to withstand both potential floods and the clean up, including being washed and sanitized after potentially-contaminated floodwaters recede, so that children can return to a safe and clean play environment
In the surrounding waterfront district, a six-block, mixed-use development is planned that will bring roughly 400 residential units and office and commercial activities to the area.
The park is designed as a series of terraces that create a ceremonial sense of place and also help protect the park and neighboring communities from rising floodwaters by creating a series of hard-edge boundaries
At night, the park is transformed by illuminated water features
Programming in the park offers people an array of daytime and nighttime activities
The park is designed as a series of terraces that create a ceremonial sense of place and also help protect the park and neighboring communities from rising floodwaters by creating a series of hard-edge boundaries
At night, the park is transformed by illuminated water features
Programming in the park offers people an array of daytime and nighttime activities
For more information contact Zachary Chrisco.
