Emmanuel Adiki of Evansville is enjoying the breeze sitting on one of the many new swings at the cascade of the Sunrise Pump Station right on the Ohio River.
The trail and the cascade finally opened to the public Tuesday, April 18.
“I live on (the) East Side but this is just a unique place here to come. With this new swing here you can sit, relax, swing, get these nice breeze,” he said. “And you know, probably occasionally watch some boat going by too.”
Nearby, crystal-clear water rushes from the expanded wastewater treatment plant back into the Ohio River. Looking at the water, Evansville Water and Sewer utility Executive Director Lane Young estimates a rate of about 9 million gallons that day.
“…but it can get up to 40 million gallons,” Young said. “So it's about a quarter of the volume that it has the capacity to do right now.”
Passersby stop and take photos of the cascade, which is a series of waterfall-like steps leading into the Ohio River, after the water’s been treated by waste-eating bacteria and a little UV light.
The whole process begins as the new pumpstation pulls water from the Ohio River, as young explains to visitors to the cascade.
“… that white building, right there is where we draw all the water into our system,” he said. “That comes into our drinking water, we put it out, you turn your faucet on, you use it, put it in the toilet, you dirty it up, you bring it back to us. So it's all a closed system. And then we treat it over there. We pump it here, and then we pump it out into the river.”
The treatment plant has been operating since 2021 and the lab in 2022. The city was quiet about reopening the Greenway Trail which is now open all the way back to the building.
Visitors pretty much found it on their own this week, and quickly made use of the more than dozen new stainless metal swings, additional walking paths and parking.
Soon, they’ll eventually even be able to enter the building which contains the wastewater lab and pump station visible through glass.
“These pumps are very, very large pieces of equipment,” Young said while taking local media on a tour of the building. “And so when we had to do maintenance or if we have a problem that we needed a way to get those out, so we made the ceiling tall enough.”
Indeed the pumps are massive, and across the gulf created by their room, the plate glass offering a view of the wastewater lab, where outgoing water quality is monitored.
The building’s interior is open and full of natural light and colored in vivid blues. There’s even an upper pavilion with scenic views of the cascade, the river and the city.
Young say’s he’s not sure when the lab and pump station building will be open to the public but he recently discussed it with Mayor Lloyd Winnicke.
Josh Armstrong is president of the downtown Evansville economic improvement district. He said the 2016 master plan suggests a need for more riverfront amenities like these.
“The overlook, which gives you a great view of downtown Evansville, the array of seating options, the swings, the extension of the bike path, all of these add to the downtown Evansville riverfront experience for residents and visitors alike,” he said.
While amenities are in the master plan, the pump station and cascade were projects compelled by the Federal Government and the EPA through a consent decree in 2016.
The city was accused of Clean Water Act violations which led to building the additional wastewater plant which largely services the city’s East Side.
Young said the Army Corps of Engineers wouldn’t allow the city to bore another hole in the levee, so the cascade was their solution for delivering the clean water back to the river. Making it a public destination was decided as well — to highlight the importance of public infrastructure.
The next big project is replacing the drinking water treatment plant which was first built in 1897. Young said it will eventually be built where a Levee Authority and facilities maintenance building sit now, near the new pump station.
The current building will then hopefully be repurposed.
“The next thing we hope to have (is) a public-private partnership and have an amenity, maybe some boutique shops and restaurants, maybe some loft apartments, and have an anchor for the riverfront that then just goes all the way there,” Young said.
People like Emmanuel Adiki can see the potential for the cascade area being very popular downtown — even in the middle of most people’s work day.
“And there are quite a few people here already,” Adiki said. “So I can imagine like a late afternoon. I mean, it's going to be packed here. And this place I can imagine on the fourth of July. This is going to be a place to be.”
