Evansville boaters react to Ohio River Vision and Great Bend Park

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Some Evansville boaters are concerned about ramp access on the Ohio riverfront. It comes as plans on Tuesday were released reimagining the riverfront in Mount Vernon, Evansville and Newburgh.

Developers propose building parks and other gathering places in all three communities.

Some boaters like the idea — including Alfredo Stewart and Mark Wilson who come to the river around three or four times a week.

“It’d be pretty cool to see in Evansville,” Stewart says. “With the new skatepark, it’d be a nice little touch up, just fixing all the riverside over here.”

What they don’t like is the removal of the downtown Evansville boar ramp, which some say say doesn’t appear in the reimagined renderings.

“We’re 100% for it,” Wilson says. “Losing that boat ramp — that would be disappointing for sure. I think that should be built into the plans.”

Nothing is going to be done immediately. Officials say these projects are only proposals and will take years to implement.

“Now each of the three communities will have to do a really deep dive and do what has been suggested, and they’ll have to figure out where the priorities are for each of those communities” Evansville Regional Economic Partnership Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Winnecke says. “So, that’s the next step, and it’s an exciting period for our region’s time.”

Wilson hopes there will be meetings where officials can hear feedback.

“If there’s things that need to be adjusted or tweaked, that they’ll be open to those comments.”

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