Downtown Riverfront Park

Battelle Riverfront Park

Battelle Riverfront Park is a series of walkways, promenades and greens on the east side the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. They were designed that you could walk from one end to the other without retracing your path. One of the highlights of the park is the Santa Maria replica. The Santa Maria was sailed by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and landed in the Caribbean. Riverfront Park connects to a series of parks along the river from Bicentennial Park on the south and North Bank Park on the north.

This replica is touted to be the most authentic replica of the Santa Maria and was built in 1991, and dedicated in 1992 during the Quincentennial Celebrations held in Columbus.

Tours of the Santa Maria help dramatize the determination it took for Columbus and his explorers to set out on their mission. Experience the lives they led, interact with replicas of the navigational tools they used, play the games they played to pass the time.

The road immediately to the east of the river is Called Civic Center Drive. The most notable feature of the drive are the 50 flag poles. Currently they only fly the city and state flag, but originally they flew all 50 state flags. At the base of each flag pole is a marker identifying each state along with its capital and the date of its admission into the Union.

Civic Center Drive also hosts one of the largest art festivals in the country the first week of June each year. On July 3 each year, the drive is closed to traffic and it becomes a prime viewing spot for "Red White and Boom" a premier fire works display.

The First White Settler

Just north of the Santa Maria and at street level is a marker noting that on this spot the first cabin in the area was built by John Brickell in 1797. Brickell was born in Stewarts Crossing, Pennsylvania in 1781. He was captured by Delaware Indians in 1791 at age 10 and was adopted by the Chief. He was then released at Fort Defiance shortly after the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

John Brickell had purchased the land on the east side of the Scioto River from about where the Santa Maria is located, up and around the bend of the Scioto to the confluence of the Olentangy River. He lived there until his death in 1844. He always wore a suit of buckskin and moccasins that he boasted to friends in 1842, that he had "never worn anything else on his feet and they were never cold."

Just above the park is a group of statuary and fountains designed for children.

2012 Bicentennial Celebration

Battelle River Front Park will be part of the 2012 celebration and become part of what is being called the Scioto Mile. When complete, the Scioto Mile will stretch from the Arena District all the way down to the new Whittier Street Peninsula. This stretch of riverfront property will feature parks, boulevards, water features, plazas, bikeways and pedestrian paths that will create a green corridor along the east side of the river.

The John W. Galbreath Bicentennial Park will be improved with multiple new features added included new fountains, a permanent band stand, extensive floral displays and landscaping. A new 15,000 square foot fountain will replace the existing fountain. Also scheduled to be included will be a glass-enclosed cafe restaurant featuring an outdoor terrace with dining overlooking the new park. The park currently has a budget of $38 million for the new improvements.