Shuai Hao, senior associate landscape architect at Sasaki is taking River Vision update attendees on a tour of a one-to-30 scale model of part of the current River Vision plan.
“This is only half of the park, which is the north, which is currently (near) Dress Plaza,” she said. “This is a restaurant, and then the southern part with all the playground and sports court will coming in when we deliver 100-percent S-D.”
The project is currently at 50-percent SD — schematic design.
On Wednesday, Ohio River Vision planners presented updates to the design schematics to stakeholders and the steering committee. This included updated renderings, tables and graphics and opportunities to ask questions.
The presentation included several revisions to elements. These were proposed during the “due diligence” phase of design which takes things like flooding into account.
“It was getting more detailed information that allowed us to tweak it by, in some cases a couple inches, some cases a few feet,” said Anna Cawrse, principal at Sasaki.
She said programmed events also account for changes.
“… thinking about how some of the spaces are expanded or contracted for some of the programming. But the big concept of Great Bend Park is still there — that we're bending this park to bring the city to the river, and the river to the city and create a celebration on the Ohio River of what is an incredible public space.”
Changes to previous conceptual designs include giving the relocated Four Freedoms Monument plaza more space, and replacing a traditional playground located in the floodplain with a durable climbing garden.
They’re making the EMTRACK train on the Evansville Museum property a more focused educational opportunity. Some features have been moved from near the 1931 flood level.
The next step is to fund the creation of construction drawings — which could take two years. Due to the size, complexity and expense of the project, there is no timeline for completion.
Feedback for the overall project opened in 2023.
Sasaki is also working on practical, less exciting considerations, such as discerning the cost of annual upkeep for such a riverfront, how to defray maintenance costs and build efficiencies for upkeep into the design.
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Other features and changes:
- Adding a new Woodland Discovery Area as an educational opportunity
- Expand the botanical garden built into the overlook pathway
- Rethink water feature for children and adults
- Re-design playground into a “Playing on the Ohio River: theme with river features like a larger otter to climb in
- Incorporate naturally occurring driftwood into play and exploration
