Kenton County has taken the next step in the process of creating a new public park in Independence.
Kenton County is building a new park at 604 Independence Station Road in Independence. The 225-acre property, which previously housed the shuttered Fox Run Golf Course, is adjacent to the 78-acre Lincoln Ridge Park. The county wants to connect the two properties to create one unified recreation area.
On Jan. 15, the Kenton County Fiscal Court approved a bid from Cincinnati-based consulting firm J.S. Held to provide the owner be the owner representative or project manager for the project.
The firm will manage the park’s architectural, engineering, and construction teams — which have yet to be selected. In addition, J.S. Held will aid Kenton County in the hiring process for the project’s general contractor, design team, consultants and engineers.
“We were looking for an owner rep, but you guys brought so much more to the table, particularly in the area of expertise and the creative side,” Commissioner Beth Sewell said. “So that’s what makes us fun, and we’re just going to look forward to, not only your expertise and managing all of this well, but working with us to make it a great park for our community.”
The county posted a request for proposal, or RFP, last September, with bids due in October. The RFP outlined the role’s responsibilities, which included developing the master plan for the new park, providing recommendations on design, amenities, and facilities, managing the construction process and project timeline, and coordinating and managing the general contractor, design team, consultants, and engineers among other obligations.
Bids were judged by a selection committee comprised of representatives from various parties in Kenton County, including Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann, commissioner Sewell, administrator Joe Shriver, assistant administrator Scott Gunning, Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman and recreation commission member Adam Davey.
Michael Collins, the principal in charge of J.S. Held’s owner representative services, told the fiscal court the firm looked forward to the opportunity.
“It’s a lot of land. It’s, you know, one of the things we feel very strongly that strong parks build strong communities,” Collins said. “It’s not just green space, it’s not just, you know, an educational facility, but it’s an opportunity to bring in the rest of the community.”
J.S. Held is no stranger to the Northern Kentucky region. The firm has worked on several high-profile projects in Covington, including the Covington Central Riverfront project and North by Hotel Covington.
Regarding park and public commons development, J.S. Held has been involved with notable projects around the region, such as Washington Park and Ziegler Park in Cincinnati, Mercer Commons in Over-The-Rhine and Factory 52 in Norwood.
There is no confirmed timeline for the project at this time. Collins said J.S. Held will work alongside the county over the next month to develop a timeline. Knochelmann noted that if everything goes according to plan, the park could be completed in two years’ time.
“Hopefully, we look towards later this year to get things going in earnest, but we’ll work with the fiscal court to define a really specific timeline here over the next few weeks and the next month or so,” Collins said.
Cincinnati-based planning and design firm Human Nature presented plans for a new county park to the fiscal court in Oct. 2022. The firm’s master plan included adding amenities such as a hillside amphitheater, zipline tower, ropes course, family shelter, community gardens, and a mountain biking hub.
Currently, the property is open to the public for hiking, fishing and other recreation.
