City

4 new parks coming to Louisville

We’ve got two tickets to park paradise.

May 3, 2023 • 
Katie Molck
Wooden playground with a yellow tube slide and giant, orange music notes.

The forthcoming Alberta Jones Park was named after the first Black woman to pass the Kentucky Bar exam.

Rendering by Earthscape Play

Table of Contents
Alberta Jones Park, California Neighborhood
13th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Russell neighborhood
Waterfront Park Phase IV, 10th and 15th Streets
Beargrass Preserve, Cherokee Park

Jefferson County is home to over 150 parks — from our mighty flagships like Cherokee and Iroquois Parks to tiny neighborhood parks — and that number is growing.

Over the next few years, Derby City will add at least five new parks to that number. Here’s a look at what’s to come.

Giant orange music notes with children climbing on them in a park.

California neighborhood residents helped name + design Alberta Jones Park.

Rendering by Earthscape Play

Alberta Jones Park, California Neighborhood

After a devastating flood in 2009, 20+ acres of land along Maple Street between Dr. W. J. Hodge and 25th Street was permanently conserved as greenspace. Now, the unused area is being transformed into a music-themed park that will encourage natural, non-prescriptive play. The first phase of construction began in March 2023. No official opening date has been set — but we can’t wait to see the giant music notes.

Watercolor rendering of a park

The park is part of the Choice Neighborhoods revitalization efforts in the Russell neighborhood and is a partnership between Louisville Parks and Recreation and Louisville Metro Housing Authority.

Rendering provided by Vision Russell

13th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Russell neighborhood

This yet-to-be-named, 6.74-acre park will replace the former Old Walnut Street Park in the area that was used in the Beecher Terrace Apartments development. Residents are helping to name the future park — which is expected to open in 2024. A football field, playground, splash park, and pavilion are all part of the plan.

Two images of downtown Louisville alternate showing before, an interstate with nothing below, to an after rendering of a green space with pink trees and overlook.

An observation deck, experiential learning area, exercise area + more are planned in Phase IV.

Images provided by Waterfront Park

Waterfront Park Phase IV, 10th and 15th Streets

Waterfront Park broke ground on its fourth expansion last October. The 22-acre expansion will connect West Louisville to the downtown area by solidifying the Riverwalk and Louisville Loop. A giant playground with three play zones dubbed PlayWorks is also a main feature of the project. A completion date has not been announced.

Beargrass Preserve, Cherokee Park

Thanks to the largest financial gift in Olmsted Park Conservancy history, 25 more acres are being added to Cherokee Park. Construction on the expansion is still in the distant future, but Olmsted Park selected Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group to create the master plan back in February.

All this park news got you buzzing to head outside? Check out our guide to parks in LOU.