PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — The city will mark the near-completion of its $34 million Ohio River frontage overhaul with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20, Portsmouth city government announced in a social media post.
The post thanked Tracy Shearer for “all your hard work on this project” as the city prepares to open the renovated riverfront to the public.
The project, backed by a $34 million Appalachian Community Grant awarded through Ohio’s Appalachian Community Grant Program and funded by federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, has transformed nearly two miles of Ohio River frontage into a connected network of public spaces. The work includes Alexandria Point Park with river overlooks and a kayak launch, a redesigned amphitheater, Ridgeline Park, a boating access point at Doyle’s Landing, a 60-site RV campground and a continuous riverwalk trail network, according to project materials from MKSK, the landscape architecture firm that designed the park system.
The project has been underway since 2024 and is backed by a coalition that includes the city of Portsmouth, the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Shawnee State University, along with support from the Ohio Governor’s Office of Appalachia and the Ohio Department of Development.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Portsmouth City Government.
