Neighborhood and Community Services Director Brent Childers discusses concept plans for the whitewater park to be part of the Riverfront Park during the City of Bowling Green’s annual work session and strategic goal planning meeting at the Bowling Green Ballpark on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS

The city’s plan to transform a tract of land into a recreational hub is moving along, as the Riverfront Park project is expected to see an additional $4 million put into its coffers through the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget.

The money will cover design and construction costs into phase three of the project. Phase three consists of the Barren River Whitewater Park project, which the city has already secured some grant funding for.

“We know that we’re going to have to contribute some more funding to phase three,” Neighborhood and Community Services head Brent Childers said. “A piece of this money could go into that, but this money is really going into the pot.”

Riverfront Park was unveiled publicly in January 2024 at the city’s strategic planning meeting.

Childers said last week that design is finished on phase one — which includes a new boat ramp, a temporary parking lot and other amenities — and will likely go to bid this fall.

“We can get that bid and then start construction on phase one hopefully late fall, winter of this year,” he said.

Grant funding will cover all the expenses incurred for phase one. Phase two of the project will develop land further away from the river, ultimately installing a playground area.

Although the particulars of the playground area are still preliminary, Childers said it will be unlike anything else in Bowling Green.

“We’re going to introduce playground features unlike anything we’ve ever seen here in the community,” he said. “We want this to be a draw for the entire region.”

For phase two, the city has its sights on bids going out next spring, with construction to follow in the summer of 2026.

The whitewater park will take the most time, Childers said. While permitting for other phases can be done in a matter of months, the permitting process for the whitewater park will likely take an entire year.

“We will have a whole year of nothing but permitting,” Childers said. “It’s a very long process. We have to design most of it, wait a year to permit it, and then construct it.”

Childers said construction likely won’t begin until 2028, partly due to the permitting process and partly because it involves the river.

“Everything’s more complicated,” he said. “It’s like, right now, you can’t do anything because the river’s up.”

Grant funding totaling $3.6 million was secured for the whitewater park last year from the National Parks Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program, and Childers said the city is working with Recreation, Engineering and Planning, a firm that constructs whitewater parks around the country.

Currently, the two closest destinations for whitewater activities are Ocoee River Whitewater Rafting near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Whitewater Warehouse in Dayton, Ohio, both around three hours from Bowling Green.

“We feel like we are working with the appropriate parties to pull this thing together,” Childers said.