MIAMISBURG PARK TO BE ‘CENTER STAGE’ FOR PARTY

Miamisburg expands access for festivities planned this year.

Increasing access MIAMISBURG — to Miamisburg’s main downtown outdoor venue is part of the plan for the site that will serve as the city’s center stage for bicentennial festivities this year.

Riverfront Park has been undergoing $1.6 million in work that includes a new 1,000-foot, wider road in a project that will include curbs and sidewalks, according to the city.

The work is part of $7 million master plan to improve the 10-acre park along the Great Miami River in phases. Started last year, the roadway project is expected to be completed in the spring, according to Miamisburg Mayor Dick Church, Jr.

“Riverfront Park is going to be a focal point of the community more than ever in 2018 with our bicentennial plans,” Church, head of the bicentennial committee, said in his state of the city address. “It was important to council and me that the facility get another round of improvements and be ready for a busy year ahead.”

The park, which hosts scores of events each year, will become “center stage” for festivities focusing on the city’s 200th birthday celebration, said Kimm Mote, public relations coordinator for the committee.

The committee is planning at least one bicentennial-related event each month and Riverfront is set to host activities there in June, July, August and September.

The park’s spotlight will be brightest from June 16-23, when there will be “several musical events planned all week long,” Mote said.

For eight straight days, the park will feature live entertainment, mostly of the musical variety, organizers have said. Acts will range from the U.S. Air Force Band of Flight and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra to Parrots of the Caribbean, Ticket to Ride, Alexis Gomez, The Hathaways and Bear

Creek.

The main musical attraction that week is expected multiple Grammy Award-winner Ricky Skaggs. Skaggs is scheduled for a 9 p.m. June 20 concert presented by Kettering Health Network-Sycamore Glen Hospital, according to the bicentennial committee’s website.

Here are three other issues to know for those who have not frequented downtown Miamisburg in a few years or more, but may plan to check it in 2018:

■ Great Miami River access has been improved. A canoe/kayak launching point — Case Landing — is west of the river next to the Linden Avenue bridge.

■ A Brewery District is part of downtown. The two microbreweries — Lucky Star Brewery and the Star City Brewery — are within walking distance of a number of other night spots and eateries.

■ More free parking has been added in the downtown. The work at Riverfront Park includes improvements to parking lot at both ends of the site. Also, the city has acquired vacant parcels in recent years designated for free spots.