"This started many years ago, almost 20 years ago, where we had a community meeting and people wanted to make the village more walkable," Vice Mayor Steve Staton told WCPO in late September. He has been mayor for about a week now. The walk he was describing is a strip of bank along the East Fork Little Miami River in downtown Batavia. On a Wednesday afternoon, with the brush cleared away, crews were out there planting grass seed.
The Village calls it Riverwalk Park. The idea is two decades old, but the land under it reached the Village only recently, and by an unusual route. It started as a park in someone else's plans.
The Grass Seed Came Before the Plan
In early September, the Village of Batavia posted renderings of the park on Facebook. They show a paved walking path along the river, benches, and decks where people could stand out over the water.
Those images are a picture of what the park could be. They are not a construction set. WCPO reported that the exact plans have not been finalized, the cost is not yet known, and village officials are still looking for ways to pay for it. The Clermont Sun's September 30 report lists the Riverwalk among Batavia's projects that are "moving forward," and says nothing about a schedule or budget.
So the bank has been cleared and seeded, and the drawings are public. The path, the benches and the decks are all waiting on money that hasn't been found yet. Most park projects get designed and funded before anyone touches the ground. This one went the other way, and the reason goes back to a developer's plans.
How a Developer's Park Plan Became a Village Park
Village Administrator Chip Stewart explained the history to WCPO. The park was first planned by a nearby apartment developer. The Village then got involved and leased the land. "We actually started talking to the developer probably about almost two years ago now, about actually making it a village park," Stewart said.
WCPO didn't name the developer. The large apartment project on the river downtown is River Pointe Apartments, the $100 million development on 27 acres west of Haskell Lane. When it broke ground in June 2025, the plans included 518 apartments in eight buildings and "a 2,000-foot public greenway along the East Fork Little Miami River." WCPO described Haskell Lane as "trailing the East Fork Little Miami River."
Here is the order of events in the public record:
- About 20 years ago: at a community meeting, residents ask for a more walkable village, as Staton recalls it.
- Around fall 2024: the Village and the developer start talking about turning the planned park into a village park, using Stewart's "almost two years ago."
- June 26, 2025: River Pointe Apartments breaks ground on Haskell Lane, with its own public greenway in its plans.
- Early September 2026: the Village posts the Riverwalk Park renderings.
- September 23, 2026: WCPO finds crews seeding the cleared bank, with funding still open.
No source we found names River Pointe as the developer Stewart meant, or says Riverwalk Park and River Pointe's 2,000-foot greenway are the same strip of riverbank, and the Village hasn't published the park's exact boundaries. Stewart's account on its own shows a riverside park first planned by the apartment developer becoming a public park leased by the Village. That explains why the order looks backward. The land came before the plan. Leasing it put the park's design and its timing in public hands, and money is now the step everything else is waiting on.
River Pointe's own website still says "Opening Fall 2026." We found no report confirming that any building has opened yet.
A River the Village Has Reshaped Before
This isn't the first time Batavia has changed how people use this stretch of the East Fork. The Batavia Dam was a low-head dam built in 1945 with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. It held back water for dry seasons and supplied the village's water. According to a dam removal summary compiled by American Rivers, the dam became obsolete once Batavia started getting its water from Clermont County. It was taken out for public safety because people were boating and fishing right at the dam. Removing it also improved water quality, fish passage and river flow.
The removal was a joint project of the Valley View Foundation, the Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District and the Ohio EPA, with support from Batavia Village Council. Ohio EPA's Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program paid for all of it.
So the river's safety problem was fixed with state money years ago. What the Riverwalk would add is a way to get to the water downtown: a paved path and somewhere to stand over it. Our summer piece on where Batavia spends its weekends follows the river farther out. The Riverwalk would bring it right up to the end of Main Street.
Main Street's Side of the Walk
Gramma's Pizza at 154 Main St. sits just up Main Street from the site. According to WCPO's February 2025 report, it has been down the road from Haskell Lane since 1993. On the day crews were seeding the bank, the restaurant was serving its lunch crowd, and owner Lisa Furkas told WCPO what she'd like to see down by the water:
"I think it's going to be good for the community and I would like to walk the river park as well, when it gets here. ... I hope that park's nice enough that people can take their children there and it can be a play area."
The renderings don't show a play area. Her wish is the kind of detail that will get settled while the design is still open. Staton has said he expects businesses to promote the park as a reason to come downtown.
There's construction at the other end of Main Street too. Clermont County's April 2026 permit report lists a $3 million new building for Casey's General Store at 601 Main St., with the permit issued April 21, 2026. A kitchen-hood fire suppression permit for the same address followed on May 22. Neither report gives an opening date. The Village's September update also lists "continued efforts toward bringing a grocery store to the community," without naming a chain or a site.
Where the River Is Open This October
Until the Riverwalk has a paved path, the nearest finished riverside walk is on the same river at Sycamore Park, 4082 State Route 132. Clermont County Park District runs it, with paved paths along the river and access to the East Fork. The park has a kayak launch with level water access and a sundeck facing the river. Next door, the James L. and Frances Wilson Nature Preserve has river trails and a bridge out to an island in the East Fork.
Two free park events there this month:
- Spooky Storytime & Hike, Friday, Oct. 9, 10 to 11 a.m. No registration needed.
- Halloween Trail Haunt, Saturday, Oct. 24, 6 to 8 p.m. Activities are geared to kids age four and up.
If you'd like the background before the river story gets its next chapter, local historian Gary Knepp is presenting "A History of Clermont County" on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. It's in the Batavia library meeting room at 180 S Third St. Our Batavia neighborhood page and our earlier post on life near East Fork State Park cover the river farther upstream.
Who Answers the Riverwalk Questions Now
The design, cost and funding are all still open, and the people handling them have changed this fall. C. Scott Runck retired as mayor effective noon on Sept. 28, 2026, after nearly three decades of public service. Staton, who described the 20-year-old walkability idea to WCPO, was sworn in as his replacement shortly after, according to The Enquirer.
In a public letter, Staton wrote that "when proposals come forward, you will hear them from the Village, with the facts, in public meetings, before decisions are made." Stewart told The Enquirer that council will likely pick a new vice mayor at its Oct. 13 meeting. For anyone waiting on a paved path along the East Fork, those public meetings are where a funding source, a final design and a construction date will show up first.
We follow projects like Riverwalk Park because they change what a short walk from Main Street looks like for the people who live in Batavia. If you have questions about the riverfront or anything else going on downtown, Ragan McKinney and our team are glad to share what we're tracking. Let's Connect.
