Sawyer Point celebrates 25 years

Twenty-five years ago, scrapyards and storage facilities spanned the mile-long stretch of land that now composes Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove. 

“When Cincinnati took on the development of Sawyer Point, the City and Cincinnati Recreation Commission were dedicated to reaching out to the local community,” says Deb Allison, Cincinnati Parks’ business service manager. 

That dedication created an area of greenery that now fits into a two-mile stretch of award-winning landscape along the Ohio River—and it’s one that Allison says should be honored.

“It’s really important to celebrate the vision that the City, the recreation commission and the park board had at that time in what the riverfront could be,” Allison says. 

To celebrate that vision, the Cincinnati Park Board will host a Rockin’ Birthday Bash for Sawyer Point. 

The all-day music festival will take visitors back to 1988 when Sawyer Point first emerged as a spot for community gatherings, and it will do it in 1980s fashion with throwback bands that Allison says might remind guests of the time when the park was first commissioned. 

Like all birthday bashes, the event is intended to be a celebratory happening, but it’s also a time to reflect on how far the riverfront has come in recent years and the impact the parks and local developments have had on the city. 

“The community and the residents of the City of Cincinnati are extremely dedicated to their parks, and put a lot of effort into ensuring the sustainability of the parks now and in the future,” Allison says. “With the development of different parks—you can see that people are being drawn into those areas. Whether it’s to the restaurants or the residential areas that are either for rent or for sale, or the different businesses that have been able to open around the Banks development—people and visitors make it a beautiful, safe and friendly environment for people to enjoy.” 

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.