Henry Molski

hmolski@enquirer.com

A vacation to the beach may soon be no more than a commute to The Banks.

When the spring finally breaks in 2015, Smale Park will cut the ribbon on several new projects. Carol Ann's Carousel, the Heekin/PNC Grow Up Great Adventure playground, new sets of cascading fountains, a foot piano and more will all populate the continual expansion of the riverside park.

In the Fall 2014 update video on the Smale Park construction, project manager Dave Prather gave a sublte nod to another space along the water.

About eight minutes into the fall 2014 park update video released this week, Prather had a new suggestion.

"You could really get a sense of how we've cleaned up the bank and evened it out," Prather says. "Some might go as far to describe it as a beach.

"We are able to connect to the river in a way we never have before."

Even as Prather stands in the mud and grit of a cool November day, the open space and gentle curve of the land down to the water shows the promise of a potential beachfront lawn.

The Great Lawn excavation beside the water was one of the first features in the 1998 master plan for the project.

Prather suggests that the area allows the city to reconnect to its old riverside roots with the earliest construction along the Ohio River. Some of the first Cincinnati subdivsion was erected where Smale Park grows today.

The progress video also showed the construction on Carol Ann's Carousel as glass for the windows and skylight were recently delivered. The carousel is set to open in the spring of 2015.

A final update for Fall 2014 included a look at the Heekin/PNC Grow Up Great Adventure Playground - an interactive outdoor play space with slides, rope bridges, drums and more. The play area is another one of the largest pieces expected to open by May of 2015.

Watch the full 16-minute update below: