Riverwalk Park awarded grant by National Park Service

BOWLING GREEN Ky. – Bowling Green’s Riverwalk park will soon be looking at some upgrades because of a grant from the National Park Service.

The park was awarded $750,000 to develop amenities including boat ramp, fishing access and a rock-climbing course just to name a few. Residents are looking forward to the upgrades.

“I think that’s wonderful. That’s going to be great for kids, for people with pets, people who like to get away from the stress of urban environment,” said Bowling Green resident M’lisse Ellstrom.

The grant coming to Kentucky along with 17 other cities totals just over $11 million. It’s something the city of Bowling Green has been working on for years, and director of Neighborhood and Community Services Brent Childres said he’s thankful to bring this achievement to 2020.

“We’re really excited. This is something we’ve worked on for a lot of years. This is actually our second round of application. We applied in 2016, were denied, applied again in 2018, and now we’ve been awarded here at the end of 2019,” Childers said.

The Department of Neighborhood and Community Services is looking into a cost benefit analysis on what new amenities can come from the funding.

“Right now, it’s been very conceptual and kind of visioning of what this could be,” Childers said.

No matter what upgrades are on the way, residents say it’s going to be an even better way to enjoy the trail and a way to spend more time outdoors.

“People need that. They need to disconnect from the electronics and screens and be able to invest themselves in nature and see that natural environment,” Ellstrom said.