What do you want to see along the riverfront?
Consultants lay out possibilities on both sides of the river, ask for online input to rank them. Plus, how redistricting special session drew a Democrat’s early campaign entry in Senate District 22.
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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE ALONG THE RIVERFRONT?
Consultants looking to draw up the next playbook for a stretch of Greater Lafayette riverfront said this week they’re looking for public input about a range of ideas – skateparks to boardwalks, marinas to park shelters – on both sides of the Wabash River.
“This is such a big footprint, we really could do a lot,” Eric Lucas, a consultant with MKSK, said Wednesday during a public session on what’s considered the riverfront’s “south reach” and the West Lafayette section of the “central reach.”
In all that would take in the South Street Bridge at the north, the rail corridor along the east side of the Wabash Avenue Neighborhood on the east, the U.S. 231 Bridge on the south and River Road on the west. The project also includes a long section of West Lafayette stretching from either side of Tapawingo Park.
Wednesday night at the West Lafayette Public Library, Lucas walked several dozen residents through an exercise of ranking potential features and where people wanted them to go, if they ever got done.
It’s a similar exercise that guided earlier studies for other parts of the riverfront that led to work getting done now.
“Planning isn’t sexy, it isn’t fun, I know that,” Stan Lambert, Wabash River Enhancement Corp. executive director, said. “But it’s allowed us to go out and get a lot of projects underway when the opportunities come along.”
The study is expected to be done this winter, with one more public session in between to present what Lucas said would be concepts matched with ideas about how to get them done.
“All these are things are feasible,” Lucas said. “We just want to know what people really want to see done.”
To that end, MKSK has a site set up with the ideas gathered during earlier sessions and a way to rank them and map them online. Check it out here.
Among the ideas listed and ready to be ranked:
Improved river edge
Wabash & Erie Canal interpretation
Elevated tree top trails
Skating and ice rink
Mixed use bars, shopping and restaurants
Park shelters
Public beach
Performance spaces
Water features
Overlooks
Play courts (basketball, pickle ball, etc.)
Play areas
Public art
Lawn spaces
Trails and boardwalks
Kayak/canoe marina and put-ins
Natural areas
Wetlands
Skatepark
Adventure recreation (BMX facility, climbing walls, whitewater course, etc.)
What you can do: To contribute to the rankings, go to onewabashriver.com.
Lambert said the current plan will build on several others done in recent decades. Those have led to some of these projects in the works:
A pedestrian/bike bridge: The bridge, included in a $25 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant announced in 2023 and finalized earlier in 2025, would span the Wabash River between Harrison Bridge and the Sagamore Parkway Bridge. In West Lafayette, it would connect just south of Mascouten Park, near where Happy Hollow Road meets North River Road. In Lafayette, the bridge would connect with the Wabash Heritage Trail between Lyboult Park and McAllister Park, where the former Lafayette Municipal Golf Course was. Wabash River Enhancement Corp. owns property cutting from the Wabash River to the trail on North Ninth Street, including former a former flooring outlet near the intersection of Canal Road and North Ninth Street. Lambert said the plan is to put that project out for bid in 2027.
North River Road/Tecumseh Trails Park improvements: The RAISE grant also includes work on 2.55 miles of side paths and boardwalk on the east side of North River Road, from Mascouten Park in West Lafayette to Tecumseh Trails Park, across from the entrance to the Indiana Soldiers Home. Much of that path cross of some of the nearly three dozen properties the Wabash River Enhancement Corp. owns along the river corridor in the two cities and Tippecanoe County. From Tecumseh Trails Park, a trail bridge will be built across ravines and connect with a new trail linking access to Tippecanoe Amphitheater Park.
Trail connections at the Sagamore Parkway Bridge: A pair of projects bid in fall 2024 will connect trails along North River Road on the west side of the river and the Wabash Heritage Trail on the east side to a dedicated bike and pedestrian lane along the eastbound span of the Sagamore Parkway Bridge. Lambert said the $6.4 million project, being done by Boggstown-based Beaty Construction, is expected to be done by early 2026. That project is part of Indiana’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) grants.
Harbor and dock for paddlers’ access: The new trail funded by the federal grants along North River Road will go by an A-frame home at 3301 North River Road. WREC owns that property and plans to build a trailhead along with a small harbor and dock for a canoe/kayak put-in/take-out along the Wabash. Lambert said that project is scheduled to be done by early 2026. That project also will be funded by READI funds.
Cleanup of former Lafayette Paperboard mill property: Lead contamination left two decades after the Lafayette Paperboard mill closed and was razed along the Wabash River is being targeted in a $2.5 million cleanup, largely funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city and federal officials announced in June. That property in the Wabash Avenue Neighborhood is in the footprint of the current riverfront study. In preliminary plans displayed at that time, the area would be opened up to potential trails, river overlooks, a dog park, playgrounds, an amphitheater, a boat slip, features that play off the Wabash and Erie Canal that once ran near the site and a potential pedestrian bridge to connect to the Wabash Heritage Trail across the Wabash River.
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MORE FROM A NEW CHALLENGER IN INDIANA SENATE DISTRICT 22
A bit more today after catching up with Natasha Baker, a teacher from Battle Ground who announced via a TikTok video Wednesday that she plans to run as a Democrat in Indiana Senate District 22. That’s a seat Sen. Ron Alting, a Lafayette Republican, has held since he was first elected in 1998 – and one that already features a GOP primary in May 2026 between Alting and challenger Richard Bagsby, a candidate who comes with support from Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith.
Senate District 22 includes Lafayette, the eastern half of Tippecanoe County and Carroll County.
On her campaign page, Baker, a 2010 Harrison High School graduate with two degrees from Purdue, lists herself as a public school family and consumer sciences teacher in Carroll County, married to a volunteer firefighter and raising children ages 3 and 6 in Tippecanoe County. Among her “campaign cornerstones,” Baker lists strong public schools, state funding for child care, universal pre-K, expanded access to Medicaid, mental health and addiction services, and raising Indiana’s minimum wage.
Here are a few takeaways from a conversation Thursday.
On redistricting and her campaign announcement: Baker said she’d been planning to announce her campaign in the coming weeks, but news about Gov. Mike Braun this week calling a special session to have the General Assembly consider redistricting U.S. House districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections made her jump earlier. She said Alting’s announcement Oct. 24 that he backed the redistricting effort “definitely prompted me to announce sooner.”
“Calling a special session to redistrict right now, in a time where Hoosiers are facing rising property taxes and rising utility bills and the rising cost of living, it’s a slap in the face,” Baker said. “Redistricting to support the lowest polling president in history totally takes away this idea of fair representation.”
On her motivation to run: Baker said she grew up in a conservative family, where her political views didn’t fit in.
“What’s motivating me is I want to inspire other young millennials and moms to get involved, because I feel like there’s a disconnect between politics and our everyday lives,” Baker said. “I didn’t have anyone like that as a role model, and I wish I’d had it.”
On a potential primary on both tickets: On Wednesday, Ken Jones, Tippecanoe County Democratic Party chair, said he expected another Democratic candidate to announce a run in Senate District 22, forcing a primary.
“I think that everyone is really eager to see a change, and everyone is kind of all hands on deck right now to make that change happen,” Baker said. “So, I’m excited. If having a Democratic primary in 2026 brings more people to the polling place, I think that’s a great thing.”
On whether a district that has voted solidly Republican in the past is winnable: “I think this can be winnable if we can get enough people to realize that rights aren’t like a pie, where if someone gets a bigger piece, yours has to be smaller,” Baker said. “That the migrant building your house is not the enemy. That a teen mom getting WIC is not your enemy. I feel like in a lot of ways, people think that they are. They’re not. We’re not each other’s enemy.”
The primary is May 5, 2026. The general election is Nov. 3, 2026. The official candidate filing period ahead of the 2026 primaries starts Jan. 7.
FINALLY, FOR YOUR HALLOWEEN PLEASURE …: Looking for something to do on this Halloween Friday night? BiL’s Tim Brouk has plenty to choose from in this week’s Tim’s Picks replay:
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Nice to see a Democratic challenger for Alting. The gerrymandering of this district is probably a driving force in his going MAGA on redistricting, and that same gerrymandering will make it difficult for a Democratic challenger. But, the Democratic Party in this state will never rebuild as a party without candidates being willing to step up and make the case, so kudos to Baker for taking that step. And, hey, one never knows, if a candidate can generate turnout in the Lafayette area (and potentially if Alting loses his primary challenge) maybe there's a route for a Democrat...
Also, exciting to see planning going on for the riverfront areas, which feel like untapped assets for this community. A vibrant riverfront area would really add to the area. With that said, just a few comments: a more defined beach area right beside a river that can often flow deceptively quickly could be risky. And, the northern outlined area on the WL side is prone to high flooding, so I'd imagine the options there are limited. But not zero!
I remain surprised that a second pedestrian bridge remains under consideration. We already have one good one. A second would be nice, and more useful for cyclists. The proposed location on the WL side, coming out around North River Road/Happy Hollow Road, is already a bit of a hairy area for traffic, but I could see where a connection could then be made to the trail coming off the Sagamore Pkwy bridge as a next step.
Anyway, I appreciate the options generated with some imagination! Glad to have community leaders who are looking ahead with an eye toward improved quality of life for all.
A word of appreciation for Stan Lambert. The Wabash River Enhancement Corporation is not a large organization, and they have a lot of irons in the fire. His work in keeping all of these projects moving forward is impressive.