Waterfront Park Phase IV
River Road between 10th and 14th Streets, Louisville, KY. PlayPort at 1105 Rowan Street. approximate location
Phase IV is a plan that is arriving in installments. MKSK drew 22 acres of new park between 10th and 14th in 2014. PlayPort opened first, in March 2025. The pier and the plazas in that same plan are not confirmed built, and no source says they were cut.
The site on the map
This project has no assigned street address, so the location is approximate and this is the map rather than a panorama. A verified first-party or explicitly licensed photograph replaces this embed when available. How the two halves work.
What changed
- The July 2014 Conceptual Master Plan by MKSK laid out a 22-acre westward park expansion between 10th and 14th streets.
- Planned components included an Observation Pier, Confluence Plaza, Fort-On-Shore Plaza, an Exerscape area, and a treated Louisville Loop underpass at I-64.
- Groundbreaking in October 2022 marked PlayPort, the first Phase IV project, rather than construction of every element in the 22-acre master plan. Kentucky's $10 million commitment was public funding toward an expansion then estimated at roughly $50 million overall; the figures describe different scopes.
- PlayPort, an outdoor play and learning area built with the Kentucky Science Center, opened March 26, 2025 as the first completed component. It delivers river and construction themed play equipment and STEM features, consistent with the master plan's program for that area.
- PlayPort opened roughly a year after an earlier reported 2024 completion target.
- The Observation Pier, Confluence Plaza, and Fort-On-Shore Plaza were not confirmed complete in the sources reviewed. The official expansion site says subsequent Phase IV projects will be built as funds are raised, with no verified overall completion date.
Why it changed
No public explanation has been given.
What is on the record
No source reviewed states that later Phase IV elements were cancelled. PlayPort opened March 26, 2025, while the official expansion site describes subsequent projects as dependent on funds raised and gives no overall completion date.
Details
- Status
- Partly delivered, still in design, or revised before construction.
- Where
- Louisville, KY
- Neighborhood
- Portland / west of downtown
- Developer
- Waterfront Development Corporation
- Architect
- MKSK (landscape architecture, urban design, planning)
- Rendering credit
- MKSK, Conceptual Master Plan for Phase IV, prepared for the Waterfront Development Corporation
- The built result
- Shown through Google's live map embed at the project coordinates. Imagery remains with Google.
Sources
- Waterfront Development Corporation: Conceptual Master Plan for Phase IV (PDF, July 2014) ourwaterfront.org
- Waterfront Park: PlayPort ourwaterfront.org
- Spectrum News 1: PlayPort grand opening (Mar 26, 2025) spectrumnews1.com
- MKSK: Waterfront Park project page mkskstudios.com
- Waterfront Park Expansion: official phasing and fundraising site ourwaterfrontparkexpansion.org
Research checked . Status and figures are updated when a source changes.
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