Bowling Green officials on Wednesday revealed the master plan for the imminent Riverfront Park set to transform the Barren River shorefront.

Director of Neighborhood & Community Services Brent Childers told the Daily News the plan lays out the first concrete steps to the multi-year, multi-million dollar project.

“I think it’s important for the community to know that this is real,” Childers said. “This isn’t just the idea stage anymore. Now we have this plan, we’re going to start executing this plan, we’re going to start moving forward.”

The design centers around an egg-shaped lawn near the park’s center called the “Lower Bowl” flanked by curving paths, a bouldering wall, a woodland canopy path, a dog park and walking and biking trails.

Further northwest sits The Landing, an interactive riverfront area, next to a boat ramp and kayak launch. Interactive water features and “play galleries” sit near The Terrace, a stage pavilion and audience green space with room for food trucks and events.

Childers said implementing the plan may still “take years and years” due to its size and scope, but this allows the community to “get a real sense of where the city is going with this space.”

The master plan takes elements from two proposed designs presented to the public for comment, “Branchwork Green” and “Mussels on the Riverbend,” but largely resembles the former proposal.

He added the design took into account over 2,000 comments from the public, many collected during events like Duncan Hines Days, Stand for Children Day and the Bowling Green International Festival.

The department, partnering with design firm MKSK, sought to gather input across as many ages, ethnicities, backgrounds and income levels as possible, Childers said, in the hopes of fostering a space usable to everyone.

“There was a tremendous amount of public engagement,” Childers said. “We went out and targeted groups to make sure that we had connections so people know what we were doing.”

He hopes the project will breathe new life into the area around the park while adding to the downtown experience. He said conversations began years ago with property owners around the River Street corridor and downtown areas near the river.

“Both of those areas, we’ve seen, just haven’t had the amount of investment that other areas just surrounding Bowling Green have received over the last decade, 20 years,” Childers said. “So we wanted to spark that, that’s really where this started from.”

Phase one of the project, Childers said, will largely be funded through a $750,000 federal grant called the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership with a city match of $1.5 million. Work will begin from the westernmost bank of the park, where The Landing and boat ramp will sit.

Childers said the second phase will begin as soon as possible once phase one is completed, utilizing city funds stashed away over the last several years. That phase will focus on the area known as “Riverfront Park West,” which includes The Terrace, an observation mound, play galleries and water features.

The city will continue to save for future phases while exploring options for corporate or community investment into the park, Childers said.

The master plan can be viewed at bgky.org under featured links.

Childers said additional details and designs of elements are forthcoming, adding the master plan is still “very much a 30,000-foot view” of the project.