ERLANGER, Ky. — “I can confidently say this park is one of the biggest and best projects that we’ve embarked on to date,” said Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette.
Fette’s words presaged Wednesday’s groundbreaking of a massive parks project slated for construction in Erlanger. The event gave an overview of the project’s scope and goals and featured speeches from local and state elected officials and business leaders.
Newly dubbed as the Eons Adventure Park, the project will feature over 1,000 acres of urban woodland, 20 miles of mountain biking trails, a network of tree canopy trails and other amenities.
“This park will set a new standard for what a community space can be, and I cannot wait to see the impact it will have on Erlanger and Northern Kentucky as a whole,” Fette said.
Although this is the first time the project has received this much fanfare, it’s not the first time the city’s talked about it in public. The city held a public workshop in July for the residents of the Cherry Hill neighborhood, which abuts the park, going over preliminary plans for the project and how it will affect the subdivision.
Tuesday’s event served as a groundbreaking for only the first part of the project. The first phase includes a dog park, traffic construction aimed at curtailing semi-truck incursion into Cherry Hill, the addition of multi-use paths into the neighborhood and the general revitalization of Old Erlanger Road, which will serve as a kind of spine along which the park will run.
The city currently has $900,000 set aside this fiscal year to finance the early parts of the project. The money comes from the property tax-funded city parks fund. Additionally, the city has secured $250,000 in grant funding from the National Parks Service to aid in the phase 1 construction.
The city has also secured partnerships with several public and private interests to get the project moving and market it: Corporex, SD1, meetNKY and Boone and Kenton Counties. SD1 and Corporex are currently working with the city to donate land for the project, but those donations have not yet been finalized. Erlanger Economic Development Director Mark Collier said those donations should be completed over the next year. Future funding for the project will depend on votes from the Erlanger City Council, most of whom were in attendance at the event and took part in the ground breaking.
The city’s community partners were broadly optimistic about the project and its potential to draw in new businesses and workers to the region.
“This is exactly the kind of thing that’s represented time and again and study and again,” said Kentucky Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights). “We see, particularly in the modern generation, that workforce will move to a place because of amenities like trails and parks and nature and things like that.”
The images and amenities showcased on Tuesday represent what the project is aiming for once completed. Key amenities include a large network of mountain biking and walking trails, public artworks, trails on wooden bridges through the tree canopy, a nature playground, a hidden coffee shop that bikers can find when riding the trails and scenic overlooks. Fette also stated that the city will be working with local schools and universities to provide nature learning activities for students.
The nonprofit Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance, often shortened to CORA, is advising on the park’s mountain biking trail networks. CORA’s Board President Brian Bozeman and Fette said they were inspired by a mountain biking trail networks in Bentonville, Arkansas, famously the birthplace of Walmart.
“In 2007 Walmart had a huge problem,” Bozeman said, “and that problem was that nobody wanted to live in the dumpy little town of Bentonville, Arkansas. So the grandsons of Sam Walton, Tom and Stewart, had a vision to reinvent Bentonville in an effort to attract talent to the region, which resulted in now what is known as the mountain bike capital of the world.”
Bentonville saw a 53% increase in population between 2010 and 2020, according to the U.S. Census. The goal was replicate something like that for Erlanger, bringing in more people and businesses.
“The talent that we are so desperately trying to attract to our region is choosing locations with access to nature, parks and outdoor recreation,” Bozeman said. “Our growth organizations are recruiting companies to our region without the talent pipeline to fill those jobs. This talented workforce that we are seeking is choosing their home based on lifestyle and livability, not solely on a career.”
Fette also touted the project’s potential benefit to public health, the city’s property values and overall quality of life.
“This is Erlanger’s forever adventure park and preserve,” Fette said. “We are using the term, as well because what we want to make sure–and what this name means–is that we’re preserving this space for eons and eons to come.”
Check out some preliminary renderings of the amenities here.
This story originally appeared on LINKnky.com.
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