The City of Bowling Green scheduled two ceremonies for the same Wednesday afternoon, October 28, on the same stretch of the Barren River. One is the ribbon cutting for Riverfront Park's first phase. The other, listed on the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce calendar for 3 to 4 p.m., is the groundbreaking for Phase II.
Holding both ceremonies on one afternoon shows how this park is being built. Riverfront Park is four projects on four timelines, sharing a name and roughly a decade of planning. The piece opening first is the one built for people who already use the river: a boat ramp, a plaza and somewhere to sit. The pieces that make it a destination for everyone else, including a playground, a concert lawn, a second tract of trails and a whitewater course, arrive in stages that stretch to about 2030.
| Phase | What it is | Where it stands this fall |
|---|---|---|
| I | Boat ramp, pedestrian plaza, picnic areas, event space, temporary parking | Ribbon cutting scheduled Oct. 28, 2026 |
| II | Cave-themed playground, performance lawn, food truck park | Groundbreaking scheduled Oct. 28, 2026 |
| III | Barren River Whitewater Park | Final design funded; permitting expected 2027 |
| IV | Riverfront Park East, a 54-acre tract | State money allocated; amenities not yet chosen |
Phase I was built for people who already use the river
The full park plan covers about 71 acres of city-owned land. It calls for trails linking the river's edge, meadows, wooded areas, play spaces, performance lawns, food truck areas and an elevated canopy walk. Phase I includes very little of that list. According to the Bowling Green Daily News, it is a new boat ramp into the Barren River plus a pedestrian plaza with benches, picnic areas, a temporary parking lot, event space and other pedestrian features.
That makes it the most practical phase, and the price reflects it. Scott & Murphy's bid for Phase I came to $4,305,769. Funding also includes a $750,000 National Park Service grant the city won in 2020 and a $1.5 million city match. Work started in December. By August, most of the sidewalks were paved and the trees were planted. Sod and final paving on the ramp were among the last jobs left.
The target moved. In August, the city was aiming to finish around Labor Day. "We got a little behind on a few things, but I think we're pretty well on schedule," Brent Childers, who leads Neighborhood and Community Services, told the Daily News at the time. By mid-September, WNKY reported the ribbon cutting set for October 28. That slip of about seven weeks matters for the later phases, because those schedules are longer and less settled.
The playground starts next to Phase I, on a timeline that keeps moving
After the ribbon is cut, Phase I opens to visitors while Phase II construction continues next to it. Phase II is the piece most families are waiting for. It takes up about one acre at the back of the main 71-acre site. Its centerpiece is a large flower-shaped play area beside a two-level "plinth" with slides, all designed around a cave theme with cave formations placed throughout. The phase also adds a food truck park and a performance lawn that the Daily News compared to the concert lawn at Circus Square Park.
Phase II is also being built under a different contracting method. In May, the city hired Scott, Murphy and Daniel as construction manager to work with MKSK, the city's design firm, and bid out the construction work on the city's behalf. The Daily News reported the agreement at $52,445 for preconstruction services and $932,219 for construction management, with a 4% at-risk fee on top. That May report estimated the build at about 12 months.
The dates have already moved several times. In January, WNKY reported a construction start in summer 2026 and a public opening in summer 2027. By August, Childers expected building to start in October. He said the construction manager was helping refine the final design, and that the finished playground would look "roughly" like the renderings. If work starts after the October 28 groundbreaking and runs about 12 months, the playground would open sometime around fall 2027. Treat that as an estimate based on the city's own numbers, not a promised date.
The whitewater course is why the whole schedule is so long
Phase III is the Barren River Whitewater Park, and it is the main reason the park plan reaches toward 2030. In 2024, the project received a $3.64 million federal grant. With city and state matching funds, its total came to $7.28 million.
The biggest step so far came on September 15, 2026. The City Commission approved a $2.7 million amendment to the design and engineering contract that takes the whitewater work from 30% design all the way through construction, WNKY reported. The next steps are slower. Permitting is expected in 2027, construction is expected to take about two years, and the city projects completion around 2030. "We are at the cusp of really making this park a reality for the community," Childers told the station.
Put those numbers next to Phase I and the difference is clear. Phase I needed about ten months of construction for a ramp and a plaza. The whitewater course has a permitting year and two construction years still ahead of it, and in-river work typically involves more review before crews can start. In July, WBKO reported that the whitewater project could be finished around 2030.
The 54 acres east of River Street could move faster
Phase IV is not on the main site. Riverfront Park East is a separate 54-acre city-owned tract east of River Street. The state set aside $16 million for it, $8 million in 2026 and $8 million in 2027, for planning, design and infrastructure that supports the future whitewater project. The mayor said that money makes it possible to finish all four phases within five years, according to the Daily News.
What will be built there hasn't been decided. Ideas under discussion include more trails, disc golf and outdoor climbing. A quail sanctuary on the land will stay. City officials have targeted 2027 to start construction, the Daily News reported in April. That means the fourth phase, the one with the least defined plan, could start building before the third phase, the one with the most money behind it. Phase IV's work is mostly on land. The whitewater course has to get through permitting first.
Where to get on the river before the rest of the park opens
Phase I adds a new way onto the Barren, and it is not the only one. Several nearby spots already cover what the later phases will add.
- Weldon Peete Park. Warren County's river and lake access page lists a boat ramp onto the Barren River here. The city's listing for the park also includes the Low Hollow mountain bike trail and a greenway trail. This ramp is separate from the new Phase I ramp.
- Mitch McConnell Park. The city's Riverwalk at the park has a river-overlook balcony, a walking bridge, benches, public restrooms, and walking, running and greenway trails.
- Riverview at Hobson Grove. The city's historic house museum above the river lists Twilight Tours on November 6, a free Christmas Marketplace on Wednesday, December 2, and a free Candlelight Tour on Saturday, December 12. The Light Up BGKY holiday schedule lists the marketplace from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with free admission.
For anyone who wants to put a boat in at the new park, the Phase I ramp is the change that matters right away. For everyone else, the plaza is a place to see the river while crews work on the playground behind it, and the whitewater course remains a project with permitting still ahead.
At Jeremy Dawson Realtor Group, we keep track of city projects like Riverfront Park because they change how a part of Bowling Green is used long before the last phase opens. If you live near downtown or along the river and want to know what your home is worth while the park takes shape, get your instant home valuation and we'll give you an appraisal-based number.
