The team behind Origin Park in Southern Indiana plan to transform landfill sites into a whitewater adventure.
River Heritage Conservancy announced Monday plans to build the element, which it will call Wildwater at Origin Park, in the southern part of the more than 400-acre park.
Officials said recently they’ve secured around 80% of the total land needed for the park, a project aimed at reclaiming areas near the Ohio River to celebrate the nature and history of the land.
CEO Dennis Schnurbusch said in the release that while building on spaces like this might sound unconventional, “it’s actually a creative and proven way to cap a landfill.”
He touted the plan to transform the waste site into something “useful, vibrant and beneficial to the community.”
Schnurbusch pointed to other local projects to transform brownfields to public amenities, like Louisville’s Waterfront Park, a former industrial site, and Waterfront Botanical Gardens, a former municipal landfill.
Clinton Deckard, with Construction Solutions, LLC, will serve as project manager. He oversaw plans at Waterfront Park and the botanical gardens.
“We are confident in our ability to build this important project at this location and restore the land to meaningful use,” Schnurbusch said.
Officials said Wildwater will include around 1,700 feet for competitive kayaking, and around 2,500 feet for recreational whitewater rafting.
“The name captures the ‘Raw Awe’ experience of the landscape and its
origin along the Ohio River and just seemed the most appropriate,” Schnurbusch said.
Caliber Engineering, Inc.’s whitewater division is in charge of the water attraction. The firm Experiential Resources will oversee the adventure park’s aerial elements, like ziplining.
Perkins&Will will be responsible for the nature spaces within the adventure park.
The conservancy broke ground last year on an events center in the park, which is expected to be finished by springtime.
The park is expected to have 22 miles of trails and draw more than 1.5 million people annually.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
