Covington Riverfront
Creating Lasting Parks in Covington’s Central Riverfront Redevelopment
City of Covington
Covington, Kentucky, located across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati, is creating a new neighborhood from scratch. A new street grid will be built on a vacant 23-acre lot, which was previously home to the former IRS building.
The city of Covington has made several choices that set this project above other new developments in the greater Cincinnati area. Here is what’s excellent about the project:
The project will utilize mixed-use zoning, placing businesses in direct proximity to the residents who will use them.
A variety of developers will be involved to create a true neighborhood, as opposed to a single developer creating a private community. Not relying on a single company will create a more resilient district.
The neighborhood will connect with a new stretch of riverwalk via a land bridge.
My Proposal: Don’t Overlook the Parks
This project gets many things right. However, when it comes to parks, the plan is vague.
This is understandable, since parks should not be the main focus of an urban development project. It only takes a stroll down Covington’s vibrant Mainstrasse Village to see that restaurants, bars, and shops are what primarily attract people to a neighborhood.
Yet, parks shouldn’t be an oversight. It would be a shame for Covington Central Riverfront to have lively businesses surrounded by abandoned, unused green space. Parks are important because they extend the public space and provide a third place for people to visit while walking between home, work, and businesses.
Covington Central Riverfront should build park areas with a range of distinct uses to promote continuous activity throughout the day and help prevent the emergence of inactive or “dead” spaces.
Monotonous green spaces that lack defining features quickly become boring, providing little incentive for locals and visitors to return to the space.
This concept art shows many people interacting in an open green space, but
What is incentivizing the people in this photo to use this space?
Having one lawn is good for spontaneous sports activities, picnics, or community events.
Are multiple identical empty green spaces necessary?
People are naturally drawn to parks that feel like their own little worlds.
Places with a distinct sense of geography and identity. Spaces that invite exploration through touch, sight, sound, and movement. Varied elevations, winding paths, and tucked-away corners create a sense of refuge. Just as important are interactive elements like outdoor gyms, climbing structures, and play installations, which encourage active participation.
Covington’s plans seem to overlook this.
Hub+Weber Architects, PLC
Addition One: Outdoor Fitness Parks
Outdoor gym equipment is compact and can be nestled within a larger park. Outdoor gyms provide community members of all ages and fitness levels with free access to exercise equipment. They are a good option for residents who might not have a gym membership.
Waverly Park Fitness Equipment in Sydney, Australia
City Inspiration: Sydney
I’m currently visiting Sydney, Australia, and I felt inspired to write about the parks. Sydney has dozens of these calisthenics zones contained within larger parks throughout the city. They receive frequent use, fostering an energetic and healthy community.
Sydney has an incredible variety of sports and recreation facilities embedded within its city parks. These all should serve as inspiration for the Covington Central Riverfront development.
On the graphic above, scroll to “outdoor gyms” and see how well these facilities are spread out throughout the city (there are even more; this map only shows the city center). No matter where someone lives, they will have easy access to equipment. The city of Sydney does not waste public space.
In the Greater Cincinnati Area, outdoor gyms are extremely rare and not accessible to the vast majority of people. Neighborhoods thrive on unique features that draw visitors to the area. Covington has the opportunity to be a trendsetter in the region by building utilities like an outdoor park.
Addition Two: A Unique Playground
Too often, playgrounds in new developments feel like afterthoughts: a token swing, a small slide, and little else. But children today are surrounded by screens and stimulation. If a space doesn’t spark their imagination, they won’t return. The most successful playgrounds are built with care and creativity, offering experiences that grow with the child and keep them coming back to play.
Darling Harbour’s playground demonstrates how thoughtful topography and interactive design can create a rich play environment, with varied levels and multiple pathways that encourage movement and discovery.
City of Sydney
Below is another lovely park in New South Wales, Australia.
Rotary Nature Play Park
An excellent example of park design. Contains interactive play elements, a skate park, a bmx park, an outdoor gym.
Case Study: Berry, NSW
Rotary Nature Play Park - An excellent example of park design featuring interactive play elements, a skate park, a BMX park, and an outdoor gym. Though Berry is a small town, not a city, the fundamentals of good park design are the same. Berry's Play Park is renowned in New South Wales attracting visitors to the town. Covington might consider employing a similar strategy.
The Feasibility of these Additions
The construction of Covington’s Central Riverfront development is taking place in two (or potentially three) phases.
City of Covington
KZF Design has been selected as the developer for Phase One. The City of Covington has already accepted the infrastructure plan for this phase. This includes a small park (between blocks D and E above) that will also be an open green space.
Shown below is the park on Russell Street. Noticeably absent are features beyond aesthetic ones.
KZF Design
This is one of three proposed park spaces. Final designs have not yet been selected for Phase Two of the project, which will include the other two park common areas. Given Phase One, these spaces will likely also be underutilized in the same way.
Since many plans have already been drafted, continued partnership and improvements would be needed to realize these park additions.
Covington should continue to collaborate with KZF and other developers to refine their vision for park space usage, creating more intriguing spaces for residents and visitors.
Phase Three: The River Walk
The potential third phase also offers an opportunity to introduce interactive elements into the park, taking advantage of its open space. Inspiration can be drawn from Cincinnati’s Smale Park across the river, where play, movement, and discovery are thoughtfully integrated. A potential challenge is adapting the terrain of the levee to this usage.
Interactive Play at Smale Park
Breaking up sight lines can encourage exploration. When views are partially obscured, visitors are more likely to wander and uncover what lies ahead. Imagine walking along the riverwalk and discovering new experiences: an outdoor gym, a small dog park, interactive play areas, or even a secret garden. With a bit of imagination, the space can become a place of continual discovery and delight.
