Bradenton River Walk

BY: NICOLE MISKOVIC

A New Place to Visit: Riverwalk East

Extensive citizen engagement, dialogue, feedback, planning, and construction for the Bradenton Riverwalk expansion will soon be culminating in its first big milestone: the grand opening of Riverwalk East Park. With a master plan designed by Kimley-Horn and inspired by the aspirations of the community, the City of Bradenton, Realize Bradenton, and numerous community partners have collaborated to bring this community development project to life.

Leading the community outreach efforts of the initiative starting in 2017, Realize Bradenton coordinated the community engagement funded by the Knight Donor Advised fund at the Manatee Community Foundation. Findings from an extensive resident survey by the Center for Active Design and resident meetings concluded the importance of community assets that showcased the area’s history, included public art, and
featured nature.

Save the Date: Grand Opening Celebration

Riverwalk East Park will officially open to the community with a grand opening event on September 10, 2022. Lasting from 11am to 2pm, the celebration will feature a walk-through of the park, led by the Manatee High School marching band, live music, a family scavenger hunt to explore each area, as well as Manatee County Libraries and book signings from the author of Old Manatee A to Z. The celebration will kick off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by key officials from the City of Bradenton, including City of Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown.

Engage and Enjoy: Key Features

What will visitors be able to enjoy at Riverwalk East when it opens this September? First and foremost, it’s a new place to connect to the City of Bradenton.
Through educational panels about Manatee Mineral Springs, and its historic significance to Bradenton’s origin as a community, park-goers will be able to experience the area and learn all about the people who lived here before us.

With a mission to understand the community’s ideal vision of the park, another essential component of the input Realize Bradenton received was from the neighborhood surrounding the park and the residents and families who call it home. This inspired lowkey spaces, such as the outdoor reading room. Accompanied by an outdoor little library, this tranquil reading area will offer a space for people of all ages to read together. Old Manatee A to Z, a children’s book about the park and the city’s oldest neighborhood published by Realize Bradenton in 2020, will also be available to read from the little library.

“We are certainly proud of our new Riverwalk East, which will connect to the original Riverwalk and bring visitors all the way to Manatee Mineral Springs Park,” said Mayor Brown. “This is a neighborhood park, and we encourage our visitors to learn more about the City’s history here. A lot of work went into this park, and we’re excited to give it over to our residents.”