A stretch of vacant land in downtown Bowling Green once slated to be turned into apartments or condominiums around the downtown parking garage will soon be home to a public gathering area, with space set aside for food trucks.

Dubbed “The Fringe,” it is under construction on the College Street side of the Stadium Park Plaza parking garage.

Warren County Judge-Executive Doug Gorman said he, Bowling Green City Manager Jeff Meisel and Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority Chair Dan Harbison began talking about what could be done with the space, which has been vacant for more than a decade.

“It has been a fence and gravel lot for 13 years,” Gorman told the Daily News. “Jeff, Dan and I have been talking about how we can make it something other than that.”

Half of the space will be paved and allow for up to three food trucks at a time, with the other half consisting of a turfed surface with patio tables and umbrellas. Trees planted alongside the sidewalk and a small flower bed at the corner of the lot will complete the area, according to renderings.

The Fringe will be managed by the Development Authority once completed. Meisel said it will also be included in the city’s downtown entertainment district, meaning visitors will be able to carry open-container alcoholic drinks there under certain conditions.

“Anybody could take a drink down there and their lawn chair and just hang out,” Meisel said.

The space The Fringe will occupy around the garage was always planned to be either condos or apartments.

Original plans for the development called for living space construction, with units accessible from inside the over 800-spot garage. Part of the project was completed as Hitcents Park Plaza, but a wave of issues kept the other half unfinished.

Former Bowling Green Hot Rods owner Jerry Katzoff eventually became the project developer, renaming it Stadium Park Plaza with plans to finish development of the College Street side. Like the first plan, it too fell through.

Development rights for the property was transferred to SKY Property Management in 2022. SKY Property, through investors Mike Vitale, Mary Vitale and Steve Sutton, planned a $22 million project to build apartments and mixed-use spaces on the College Street side of the garage. 

Gorman said a combination of higher-than-planned costs and rising interest rates has put a hold on the development for now. He said even though condo construction is not happening, that doesn’t mean it cannot come later.

“We hope at some point they’ll do it,” Gorman said. “We’d be happy to have this for a year and they build them.”

Gorman said The Fringe will be built as a temporary project. 

Warren County maintains ownership of the parking garage, while the land The Fringe will occupy is currently owned by the development group Manhattan Capital BG, LLC, which will lease the area to the Development Authority, Gorman said, for $1 a year.

Crews from Bowling Green Public Works and Scotty’s Contracting and Stone were at work on the site this week drilling drainage routes and smoothing the area. Meisel said he gave workers “the green light” on July 15 to begin grading.

“We’re to the point we may have blacktop down next week, and we might have turf down week after that,” Meisel said.

The Downtown Development Authority is covering the construction costs which – thanks to some donated materials and lower costs for labor – sit between $85,000 and $90,000 for the whole project.

The side of the plaza facing the Bowling Green Ballpark is currently home to several dining options, including Mill House Cafe, Garcia’s Bar and Grill, Tra Di Noi Ristorante and the upcoming fresh fish eatery Eau Bistro.

Meisel said The Fringe is not intended to compete with these businesses. Rather, it will encourage people to make continued visits to the area.

“They (will say) ‘well, I didn’t know there’s an Italian place down there, we need to come back and eat there,’ ” Meisel said. “They come back the next time they’re sitting down at a restaurant.”

Harbison agreed, comparing the food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants to fast food chains.

“I think it’s like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Hardee’s,” Harbison said. “They all are in the same area to draw people.”

Harbison said The Fringe will be “another place to walk down to – another place to eat,” as more people move into downtown Bowling Green.

Harbison said the completed project will help improve the appearance of downtown Bowling Green and predicted it would be a “great investment” and a “great return on investment.”

“Everybody wants to see that area improved,” Harbison said. “Say they drive up College (Street) and see that 13-year fence (gone), they’re going to all of a sudden go ‘they’re improving this downtown,’ for a very small number.”

Gorman summed up his reason for backing the project.

“We’re not going to wait around any longer,” he said. “I’m tired of looking at it.”