Downtown Cincinnati's Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park is the largest in a series of open spaces that link in a necklace around the Ohio River. Recent construction at the site includes a new event lawn and performance space, 1,000 feet of riverfront promenade, and several interactive fountains illuminated by LED lights. The cascades, jets and water curtains of the grand staircase fountain dazzle at night with thousands of color combinations, and the staircase includes a bike "runnel" carved into the granite that allows riders to easily roll bikes up or down the stairway.

The Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park is a 32-acre park in downtown Cincinnati that follows the banks of the Ohio River. The park is framed by Cincinnati landmarks like the Roebling Bridge, the National Underground Freedom Railroad Center, the Paul Brown Stadium and the Great American Ballpark. With implementation currently underway, the park completes a necklace of open spaces on the river, links statewide recreation trail and bike systems and reconnects the heart of downtown Cincinnati to the river. Massachusetts-based landscape architecture firm Sasaki Associates, Inc., designed the park as a fitting backdrop for the Roebling Bridge "?u a historically significant architectural icon "?u with areas for large gatherings, passive recreation and programmed events.

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The programming that operates the LEDs can run synchronized, preprogrammed light shows with a standard DMX-512A control signal and master switch.

Smale Riverfront Park was a previously underused space that needed a significant makeover. In the spring of 2011, John Smale, former Chairman of Procter & Gamble, gave the Cincinnati Parks Foundation a $20 million gift to honor his late wife Phyllis, who spent decades working to raise funds for the city's green spaces. Additional funding was provided through a mix of city, state and federal resources. The park is expected to bring over one million visitors downtown annually and have a positive economic impact on downtown Cincinnati overall. The park also provides an excellent venue for major events and festivals, and includes space for restaurants and other leisure facilities.

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Colorful water curtains fall from glass balconies that abut a plaza filled with interactive water jets. A loggia allows visitors to walk behind the water curtains, with a glass walkway above. The waterfalls and cascades tumble into pools along Mehring Way.

The park provides a setting and a catalyst for civic activities and entertainment venues, and is supported by partnerships with private and public funds. Typical park events range from small picnic-like activities to larger pre- and post-game activities for local sports teams the Bengals and Reds, concerts, and Tall Stakes, a music, arts, and heritage festival that brings 350,000 visitors downtown. The park includes several interactive water features, a performance stage, a sculpture play area, a pavilion, bench swings, water gardens and Cinergy Trace, a 1,000-foot-long riverfront promenade. Public landings, seasonal docking and wharves serve the public and commercial cruise boat traffic.

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The plaza deck adjoining the main staircase fountain is filled with interactive water jets and additional LED lights. The jets shoot programmed bursts of water that drain away to prevent accumulation. Additional site features, which are scheduled for completion by the 2015 baseball All-Star Game in Cincinnati, include a new carousel, additional water features and a conference center.

Park amenities are enhanced by a series of sustainable strategies. A geothermal heating and cooling system supports a new restaurant pavilion, integrated bicycle-commuting center and public restrooms. The bicycle center was included in the design to encourage alternative means of transportation among park visitors. The event lawn has a green roof with trees that cover the top of the garage structure below, and solar panels on the garage, bike center and stage help provide electricity to the park. In the surrounding waterfront district, plans for a six-block, mixed-use development will bring roughly 400 residential units and office and commercial activities to the area. Phase one, which was recently completed, includes the Schmidlapp stage and event lawn, the Walnut Street steps and interactive fountain, the Main Street interactive fountain, the Black Brigade Monument, tree groves, a meditative labyrinth, the Cincinnati Bike and Visitor's Center, and the Moerlein Lager House. Phase two, which is under construction, includes the Women's Committee Garden, an adventure playground, a marina, a boat dock and other features.

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Forty-one deck level Choreo Switch sequencing jets (Crystal) were installed for the dry deck interactive fountain. These jets are an all-in-one interactive fountain device containing two LED lights and the water-sequencing nozzle. The fountain incorporates a total of 82 LED lamps, which are programmed for sequenced water and light shows at night.

Grand Staircase Fountain
Working with Aquatic Design and Engineering (AD&E), Hydro Dramatics supplied water feature products, fabrication and programming for the park's new interactive fountains. Crystal provided additional water feature products, as well as custom LED lighting for the two main water features.

Linking the upper and lower park, the grand staircase fountain consists of a dramatic staircase flanked by water cascades and a series of water curtains that fall from glass balconies above. Carved alongside the stairs are bike runnels, allowing cyclists to easily navigate the stairs and in recognition of the full-service bike commuting facility contained within the park.

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Two hundred thirty-eight 25-watt RGB LED lights were installed in the grand staircase fountain, 139 niche-mounted in the staircase and 99 in the fountain's main pool beneath the rain curtain. Decorative bollards were added at the request of the aquatic designer to hide the fountain controls from view.

During installation, 238 25-watt RGB LED lights were added to the staircase fountain in total, 139 of them niche mounted in the staircase. The lights are digitally programmed and can switch between colors with incredible speed, variation and accuracy. The red, green and blue colors work together to deliver a virtually unlimited palette of colors, enabling spectacular water and light shows. At night, the stairway and water curtains are awash in color projected by a variety of LED lights, many with custom mounting and stainless steel finishes.

Ninety-nine 25-watt RGB LEDs were mounted within the fountain's main pool underneath the rain curtain using decorative custom bollards. These decorative bollards were specially developed at the request of the aquatic designer to conceal the underwater junction box (which houses the fountain controls) and the light stand from view.

"The water features at Smale Riverfront Park are beautiful, but also interactive, providing both visual and tactile delight," said Mark Dawson, Sasaki managing principal. Dawson was responsible for the overall design of the project. "[The features] create an enduring landscape that will be embraced by the community for generations to come."

Main Street Fountain
The Main Street fountain is a dry plaza interactive water feature that encourages the public to play. More than 40 Choreo Switch jets were supplied for the dry deck interactive fountain. These jets are an all-in-one interactive fountain device that contains both LED lighting and sequencing components.

Interactive dry deck fountains are very popular on major landscape projects, as they shoot programmed bursts of water from their deck with no water accumulation, encouraging public engagement and keeping children safely entertained for hours. An additional benefit comes after dark, via sequenced water and light shows. The Cincinnati Park Board and Sasaki were awarded the national Park Design Award by the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) for Smale Riverfront Park in October 2013. Additional construction at the park, which began in late 2013 and continues apace, will expand the site to 45 acres and includes features like a new carousel, gardens, tree groves, promenades and fountains.

Project Team
Owner: Cincinnati Parks; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Aquatic Designer: Aquatic Design & Engineering
Architect: Sasaki Associates
Master Plan: Hargreaves Associates
Water Feature Projects, Fabrication, Programming: Hydro Dramatics
Water Feature Product Specialists: Crystal