In greater Cincinnati, planning is not a spectator sport.

The seeds for planning and development of a riverfront park emerged from the 1907 Kessler Park Plan which ironically included no central riverfront parks. In 1939, the proposed Rehabilitation Plan for the Cincinnati River Front was published by the Cincinnati Planning Commission. It was here that specifics began to emerge about rehabilitation of the central riverfront district. By 1948, the Metropolitan Master Plan included the Planning Commission’s Riverfront Redevelopment Plan.

Fast forward to 1980, when the Coordinated City Plan mentioned Sawyer Point Park. In 1988 the Cincinnati 2000 Plan noted potential park expansion to Riverfront West. The Cincinnati Parks and Greenways Plan was then published, followed by the Vision for Downtown Cincinnati in 1994. By 1997, an Urban Design Associates’ major investment study included planning for central riverfront and stadium siting. The Urban Design Associates’ Central Riverfront Urban Design Master Plan gave birth to the 1998 Report of the Riverfront Advisors Commission. Ultimately, the Cincinnati Parks 2007 Centennial Master Plan won approval.

The plan then came to fruition due to the financial contributions of multiple entities including the City of Cincinnati, federal government,Moerlein Lager House, State of Ohio, Hamilton County, and Cincinnati Parks Foundation. The Foundation continues to proudly raised funds to design, build, maintain, and program Smale Riverfront Park with the help of more than 1,500 individual donors.

For whom is Smale Riverfront Park named?

Smale Riverfront Park is named for the late John G. and Phyllis W. Smale. John Smale retired as CEO of Procter & Gamble in 1991. When Phyllis died, Smale donated $20 million to Cincinnati Parks for a riverfront park in her memory. Their daughter, Cathy Caldemeyer, asked that the riverfront park be renamed Smale Riverfront Park upon her father’s death in 2011.

Features for Everyone

Smale Riverfront Park contains myriad amenities that create a wonderful experience for all who visit. 1: Carol Ann’s Carousel; 2: P&G Go VibrantScape; 3: Heekin Family/PNC Grow Up Great Adventure Playground; 4: East Overlook; 5: Black Brigade Memorial; 6: Main Street Fountains.

Where (and when) “Pigs Fly” is a common theme in Cincinnati—not only in the month of May but throughout the calendar year. While the parent organization of the Flying Pig Marathon had been formally known as Cincinnati Marathon, Inc. it is now known simply as “Pig Works” to represent its growth and impact since 1997. Pig Works produces race experiences and contributes to charities that support community growth and development, while promoting a lifestyle of movement and health beyond its scheduled events throughout the year.

The month of June afforded The Banks the opportunity to host multiple Pride events! First, a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Brady Block Party was held with vendors, artists, and performances that included Monét X Change and the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus on the ICON Festival Stage.

Juneteenth (a blend of “June” and “19th) commemorates that date in 1865 when Union soldiers reached Galveston, Texas and announced the Civil War had ended and President Lincoln had freed those enslaved two years before. Declared a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth celebrates American history and the strength of the human spirit, affording everyone the opportunity to be aware of each other’s perspective and lived experiences through the stories of those generations who came before us.

This summer, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center’s inaugural Juneteenth Jubilee was a day-long tribute to liberation and to celebration, in the words of Freedom Center President and CEO, Woodrow Keown, Jr. Included in the day’s events were music and entertainment on stage, food trucks, and merchandise from a diverse array of artisans along Freedom Way in the front of the Freedom Center. The photo above captures the closing ceremony at the end of the day, marked by a memorial march to the Ohio River—​a symbolic River Jordan where the enslaved crossed into freedom on the Underground Railroad.