While flood protection is a top priority for MCD, so is economic growth. One way we have teamed up with local communities along the Great Miami River corridor to promote sustainable riverfront development plans and improve quality of life is through the Great Miami Riverway initiative, led by MCD since 2017. As part of our river corridor improvement subdistrict, we help to facilitate more sustainable riverfront development practices, so river flooding remains a low risk and communities are vibrant.
Our Riverway initiative now has twenty partners, including cities, counties, park districts, and other agencies who work together to promote sustainable public and private investment along the Great Miami River corridor. The Great Miami Riverway is Ohio’s first national water trail, the nation’s largest system of connected paved trails, and the only national aviation heritage area. It is also home to 11 unique, thriving riverfront communities, more than 2,500 manufacturing companies, and hundreds of acres of public parks and greenspaces.
MCD and our Riverway partners have four goals:
- Increase use of recreational, historical, and cultural assets
- Attract more visitors
- Support sustainable economic development
- Strengthen river corridor neighborhoods
We know it’s working. There have been hundreds of millions of investments in public spaces. Examples include the City of Troy’s Treasure Island Park, the MetroParks of Butler County’s River Center in Middletown, and enhanced riverfront parks in Miamisburg, Piqua, and Hamilton. The public investment in every Great Miami Riverway community is helping to attract millions of dollars in private investment. This includes everything from new housing, restaurants, and businesses of all kinds, from coffee shops to locally owned retail stores.
The 2023 Riverway Summit recently held in Sidney, Ohio was a big success where MCD invited Riverway partners to highlight accomplishments and shared visions of the many exciting things happening. For example, in Miamisburg, a retired Dayton Power and Light coal-fired power plant is ready to be transformed into a 200-acre mixed use riverfront development. Dayton-based Woodard Development is repurposing a 100-year-old Ohio Building in downtown Sidney into new housing and first floor retail space. New restaurants and breweries have opened or expanded in every Riverway community. In Piqua Crooked Handle Brewing recently opened on the banks of the Great Miami River adjacent to the $10 million Lock 9 Park redevelopment.
The list goes on. The Cities of Franklin, West Carrollton and Middletown all recently announced planning major investments in a new riverfront park as well as new mixed uses with entertainment, retail and housing.
MCD, through the Riverway is all about collaboration and sustainable economic growth for our region. While MCD works to keep our communities safe from flooding, we are also proud to assist and facilitate sustainable riverfront plans with our Riverway communities helping them grow and improve their quality of life.
MaryLynn Lodor was appointed by MCD’s Board of Directors on May 4, 2022, to serve as MCD’s 11th general manager.
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