Nashville will open its latest downtown riverfront park on Saturday. Known as “The Landing” at Cumberland Park it creates a grassy slope and a boat launch on the east bank of the river next to Nissan Stadium.
Mayor Karl Dean and Metro Parks Director Tommy Lynch will open the new $5.1 million park, at 2 Victory Ave., at 8 a.m., to coincide with the annual Dragon Boat Races.
Lynch said concrete beach will allow for canoe and kayak rentals.
“It really gives people a place to play, and green space, down in the concrete jungle downtown,” Lynch said.
The park includes a flat 2-acre open space and a 2.25-acre slope with a docking plaza for riverboats and ramps.
Nashville has been trying to catch up to cities like Chattanooga, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh, which have revitalized their riverfronts, Lynch said.
“Visitors to Nashville would go down to the foot of Broad and go, ‘OK, there’s the river.’ There wasn’t a way to get down into it. You didn’t see anybody swimming in it, kayaking in it, or using canoes or any things like that. And that’s what a river city is,” he said.
The new water access is among a dozen items in the multi-year Cumberland River master plan.
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