OLIN was commissioned to develop a design for a new 400-plus acre park in Southern Indiana, along the northern shore of the Ohio River. The project will rehabilitate and transform an expanse of waterfront lands, which for decades have been occupied with landfills and industrial facilities, into a rich cultural and civic asset for Southern Indiana and the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area. The park was first envisioned by River Heritage Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to implementing and managing a world-class park system along the northern shoreline of the Ohio Riverfront. The design will seek to regenerate and reforest the landscape, which has been dramatically shaped by both human intervention and the forces of nature. The project will also celebrate the land’s rich ecological and cultural legacy, which dates back to Indigenous communities established a millennium ago.
RECENTERING: Like many cities, Louisville is where it is because of a natural feature: in Louisville’s case, the Falls of the Ohio. This barrier to navigation required experienced pilots to navigate the many chutes of the Falls. At the same time, in low water the exposed limestone bedrock allowed bison, followed by hunters and pioneers seeking westward expansion, to cross the river. These two flows converged at what today is the site of Origin Park: a continental X marks the spot.
REBUILDING A CONSTITUENCY: Enthusiasm for a park in this dumping ground outside of the levee was initiated by its potential for economic impact to the region and an enhanced quality of life. The startup non-profit, RHC, faced the challenge of building a coalition. RHC commissioned a regional survey of park needs – one which identified a lack of access to significant natural areas and recreation. Building on this initial work, RHC and the design team designed workshops with a range of stakeholders and local experts including tribal leaders, local historians, and the citizen leaders who had fought for decades to establish an Ohio River Greenway.
REFOCUSING REGULATORY ATTENTION: Regulators became key allies in unlocking the land’s potential. At RHC’s request, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management took closed the illegal landfill, The Indiana Department of Natural Resources transferred the one protected area within the park’s boundaries to RHC management. And the USACE is seeking funding to implement bendway weirs to redirect water to prevent further shoreline erosion caused by the nearby dam.
SHAPING THE FLOOD: Visitors crossing the levee into Origin Park will leave behind the controlled landscape of everyday urbanism and reconnect with the power and dynamism of a great river. The future park is subject to annual flooding of more than 50 feet. Through a nuanced analysis of flood frequencies, the design team developed a plan that embraces this flood regime and shapes it into a series of experiences, ecologies, and program organized by topography.
LOW: PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY: Most of the site’s lowlands have been undisturbed for more than fifty years but streams now suffer from severe downcutting. A restoration plan to reconnect Mill Creek to its floodplain protects the wildness of these areas. Boardwalks, footpaths, and small overlook structures will allow visitors to experience this hidden world with minimal impact.
HIGH: BUILDING AND RESTORING: The uplands, in contrast, are a terrain of active landfills, junkyards, and quarries. The uplands became the location for buildings, roads, and more heavily programmed areas enabling Origin Park to remain open to visitors in all but the highest floods. Meadow and savanna restoration,essential to biodiversity and underrepresented in the region, will quickly stabilize soils.
ENSURING ACCESS: Origin Park’s wildness is significant because of proximity to nature and outdoor recreation in the heart of a major metropolitan area. A proposed park road provides legible connections to the three surrounding towns. New trails supplement the existing Ohio River Greenway, ensuring connections for cyclists and pedestrians. Inside the park, major pathways are high, moving through the lowlands on elevated structures and connecting to the uplands. At the center of this network is the Infinity Loop, a path that links the social heart of the park, including Base Camp, a site for events and a front door for new visitors.
Origin Park
Location: Louisville, USA
Collaborators/Other Consultants:
Ecologist: RES
Traffic and Roadway Engineering: Clark Dietz
Hydrology: Geosyntec Consultants,
Civil Engineering (Master Plan): Jacobi, Tooms, and Lanz;
Civil Engineering (Phase 1): QK4
Structural Engineering: MRCE
Whitewater Design: S2O
Environmental Engineering: SME
Cost Estimating: Dharam Consulting
Bridge Design: Endres Studio
Lighting Design: Tillett Lighting Design Associates
Cultural Resources: Cultural Resource Analysts
