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The Cincinnati Central Riverfront Park is one of several complex, monumental public projects concurrently being developed on Cincinnati's riverfront. Don Carter, President of Urban Design Associates, the firm responsible for planning the central riverfront, describes the array of projects and implementation schedules "the most complicated project in the United States." Indeed, the Fort Washington Way reconstruction, the Bengal's Paul Brown Stadium, the Red's Stadium, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the massive parking structures serving these facilities have a combined budget exceeding $1 billion, and must be carefully synchronized to successfully achieve their aggressive implementation schedules.
Surrounding and supporting all of these projects is the emerging vision of the Central Riverfront Park. The park is approximately 50 acres of public space that links nearly 3 miles of public riverfront with Downtown Cincinnati, and interconnects the riverfront projects into a complementary ensemble certain to enhance Cincinnati as a national and international destination. It is positioned to beautify Cincinnati's "front yard, post card" view, and magnify the region's most important public celebrations. Continous pedestrian paths connect the new park to existing riverfront parks to the east. Wide curb lanes on Mehring Way provide continuous bikeway links along the riverfront.
Since January 1998, the Cincinnati Park Board, Cincinnati Recreation Commission, and City's Department of Public Works have been collaboratively advancing a public planning process led by the consulting team of KZF Architects and Engineers of Cincinnati and Hargreaves Associates of San Francisco.
After numerous focus groups and "Town Meetings", and the continual guidance of a broad-based citizen panel advising the design team on the Park's design , the park program and concept has attained the support of citizens and leaders alike.
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