Canoes, kayaks coming to Waterfront site in Covington

This time a business that’s supposed to float down the river will go into the former Waterfront space in Covington.

A nonprofit has plans to make the dock where Jeff Ruby’s Waterfront once sat into a kayaking, canoeing and rowing destination.

The city-owned property has sat vacant since March 2011, when the Waterfront closed after partially breaking loose from its moorings, eventually sinking in August.

The Covington City Commission on Tuesday will vote on an agreement with Queen City Water Sports Club to design and develop a boathouse where people can rent canoes, kayaks and participate in rowing and other water sport events.

It’s part of an overall plan by Covington to make the Ohio River more accessible, said City Manager Larry Klein. “For people that stay in hotels and come here for activities in Cincinnati, like Reds games, this gives them something to do on the Kentucky side of the river,” he said.

A message left with Queen City Water Sports Club based in Milford was not returned.

Queen City Water Sports Club approached the city about a year ago with the idea of opening a boathouse for kayaking and canoeing programs and rentals, Klein said.

Since the city owns the property, the city has already agreed to pay $52,600 for designs for the boathouse and pier. The project will include a boathouse on the water, restrooms, a barge, ramps and mooring. Perhaps most importantly, it will include a debris deflector to protect the boathouse from the debris that kept dislodging the Waterfront. It should take at least a year before it could open, Klein said.

In addition to offering canoes and kayaks for rent to the public, Queen City Water Sports Club will also host a variety of rowing programs, city officials said.

“We’re sort of doing something there a little less formal, more organic, a little more fun” said Mayor Sherry Carran. “We wanted to offer something more in recreation for families and for young adults.”

The city has $10 million worth of walking trails and other improvements planned for Covington’s riverbank just east of the old Waterfront site as part of the Riverfront Commons project. This includes a new location for the Waterfront restaurant at the site of the old Covington landing. That’s still in the design phase.

About half of the $10 million has been committed from federal, state and local sources. When completed, Riverfront Commons in Covington will involved paved trails and public gathering spaces in front of the floodwall that will connect to a public walkway stretching along the river from Ludlow to Fort Thomas.

“It’s an exciting moment for Covington and Northern Kentucky,” Klein said. “A major piece of the Ohio Riverfront is Kentucky, the portion of Covington, is within our reach.”