As the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project reshapes Covington’s riverfront, city leaders are planning for the future of one of its most recognizable parks.
Goebel Park, located in Covington’s Mainstrasse neighborhood, is one of the city’s key landmarks, but its proximity to the impending work on the Brent Spence Bridge means the future of the park is in flux.
Covington held an open house on July 28 to share the project’s current phase. During phase one of the project, a virtual open house was held to gather input. That feedback was shared on Tuesday to get more responses from residents.
Established in 1909, Goebel Park has served residents with recreation, events and green space. As development continues around the city, including the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project, the city is taking a new look at the park to plan for its future. The city contracted with KZF Design, a Cincinnati-based architecture firm, to head up the planning process. The contract with KZF was OKed by the Board of Commissioners late last year.
The affected areas of the master planning process include Goebel Park itself, as well as the adjacent Kenny Shields Park.
The open house offered preliminary renderings of both Goebel and Kenney Shields parks, with the Goebel side featuring more natural areas like an event lawn and nature play area and the Kenney Shields side more amenities, such as basketball and pickleball courts.
During the open house, people could write comments on sticky notes and place them on the boards. They were also given a survey to fill out as they exited.
According to the city, the plan will serve as a roadmap to guide future investment, strengthen the park’s role in the community, and ensure that development aligns with residents’ vision, goals and values.
“The Master Plan will explore opportunities to enhance park facilities, improve connections, re-imagine underused spaces, plan for the future of the Bell Tower, and strengthen the park’s role as a welcoming gateway to Covington,” according to the city of Covington’s website.
KZF Design Director of Planning Abby Stainfield gave a brief overview of the project on Tuesday.
Stainfield said they have received 412 completed surveys with input on the park project. From those, she said there were a few themes that rose to the top.
Some of those included:
- Nature: Preserving what is there and creating natural and green areas.
- More neighborhood connectivity: Being able to walk and bike both to the park and through it.
- Be a destination
- Embrace the history: Preserve the bell tower.
- Improve safety: Lighting and wayfinding
- Nature play areas
- Water feature: splash pad or sprayground
From those themes, Stainfield said they started to develop recommendations and a concept plan.
“We want to make sure that we’re hearing your priorities and then coming up with a phasing plan, and that way the city can kind of start off on the right foot when they go to look at funding for the next project,” Stainfield said.
The renderings will be available on the project’s website, and Stainfield said comments will be accepted for at least a month to collect any feedback from people who weren’t able to attend the open house.
