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RiverScape additions to open Monday, June 28

Left to right: Varieties of geranium, or cranesbill, are widely used in the Phase III landscape of RiverScape MetroPark. Annual flowers are part of the new landscaping. Liriope, a low, grasslike flowering plant is a good ground cover that provides color for a long time and requires little maintenance. Five Rivers MetroParks horticulturalist Cinda Plante. The covered pavilion is the centerpiece of Phase III. Zelkova trees are the anchor trees in the Phase III landscape. Tropical plants like croton and palm are used to add color and texture.

Staff Photo by Jan Underwood Left to right: Varieties of geranium, or cranesbill, are widely used in the Phase III landscape of RiverScape MetroPark. Annual flowers are part of the new landscaping. Liriope, a low, grasslike flowering plant is a good ground cover that provides color for a long time and requires little maintenance. Five Rivers MetroParks horticulturalist Cinda Plante. The covered pavilion is the centerpiece of Phase III. Zelkova trees are the anchor trees in the Phase III landscape. Tropical plants like croton and palm are used to add color and texture.

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The landscape in Phase III of RiverScape MetroPark is ready for the ribbon cutting ceremony Monday, June 28, when the newest section of the downtown park will be opened to the public.

Staff Photo by Jan Underwood The landscape in Phase III of RiverScape MetroPark is ready for the ribbon cutting ceremony Monday, June 28, when the newest section of the downtown park will be opened to the public.

By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer Updated 2:58 PM Sunday, June 27, 2010

DAYTON — It’s been hard to focus on the road lately as you head into downtown Dayton on Riverside Drive.

The flurry of activity, beautiful plantings and the eye-catching covered pavilion at Riverscape have drastically changed one of the northern gateways into downtown.

The construction is over, and the big day has finally arrived: Phase III of RiverScape MetroPark officially opens to the public at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, June 28. After remarks by dignitaries, a group of children will cut the ribbon to officially open the latest addition to the public.

Park docents will be on hand to show off exactly what six months of work and $6.2 million has wrought, answering questions on subjects ranging from horticulture to MetroParks programming to bikeways to Ride the River rentals of bikes, hydro bikes, pedal boats and anything else visitors want to know about.

Highlights of the 2-acre addition include:

A covered pavilion and stage that can seat up to 1,100 and will be used in the summer for festivals and community events. At the Cityfolk Festival (July 2-4), it will become a dance pavilion, for the Dayton Celtic Festival (July 30-31, Aug. 1), it will house the main stage. Come winter, the space will be turned into an ice rink that’s nearly 50 percent larger than its predecessor. The rink will offer more hours and more rental equipment.

A new bike hub that features secure bike storage, showers and lockers.

New food concessions — Skyline at the Fountains and Skyline at the Hub run by the folks from Brown Street’s Skyline Chile will offer salads, wraps, cold treats, sandwiches, as well as Skyline favorites such as cheese coneys.

2,600 new permanent plants — not to mention the additional hanging baskets, floral containers, scattered annuals and lush tropicals.

“I know because I counted them!” says Five Rivers MetroParks horticulturist Cinda Plante, who has supervised the expansion of the urban park. The initial design was created by Columbus landscape architect Mark Klein of KKG Studios. A portion of the work was contracted out to T.R. Gear Landscaping in Fairfield, other areas were planted by MetroPark staffers. As many as 50 people worked on a given day.

Cost of the landscaping was $380,000. A majority of the costs for landscaping and construction was covered by federal and Ohio Department of Transportation grants as part of the new bike hub.

The challenge this time around for the horticulture folks was to double the size of the planted areas without hiring additional staff.

“The older part of RiverScape is a garden” explains Plante, “but here we were looking for things that would give us color without having to put in a lot of flowers. Flowers require a lot of maintenance.”

To qualify for Phase III of RiverScape, she adds, a plant had to be “more than just green leaves. It had to do some work as well.”

By that she means these plants had to be interesting in terms of texture and color foliage. She illustrates by pointing to Alice.

“This ‘Alice’ is an oakleaf hydrangea — its first bloom will be white, then it will turn to pink and it will be copper in the fall,” says Plante. Another winner is liriope, a variegated grasslike yellow and green-striped ground cover that’s a member of the lily family and will bloom with purple flowers.

There are dozens of other examples — permanent plants that offer a big bang for the buck but require little care.

On the north and east side of the bike hub, a trellis wall will show off climbing plants including a tropical passion vine that Plante promises will be “gorgeous.”

The giant tropicals with their giant leaves are the only plants in the new section that will need to be removed over the winter, then replanted next summer.

“Tropicals add a lot of color to the bed and give all-season color,” says Sheree Cyra, special projects horticulturalist who was digging a hole for a tropical oliander last week. “They like the heat and humidity, and they have interesting textures with large leaves.”

In keeping with RiverScape tradition, each plant in the new areas will be identified by its botanical name, correct pronunciation and its common name.

“People really appreciate the labels,” says Plante, who also plans to publish a RiverScape plant guide by next summer.

Cyra says with the exception of July Fourth, people are very respectful.

“Just stay on the pavement and that will make our plants happier,” she advises.

Folks also seem to appreciate the effort that’s gone into making RiverScape a special place.

“This is the only job where every single day people tell you what a great job you are doing,” says Plante. “everybody ought to have a job like that!”