Clark County will soon become home to the most ambitious and imaginative public green space in the region.

Or at least that’s what The Greater Clark Foundation is striving to achieve.

While rain has continuously delayed construction of the much-anticipated Legacy Grove park, formerly known as Project 1107 for its address at 1107 W. Lexington Ave., GCF officials hope the space will be open later this year.

Beth Jones, program officer at GCF, said the 30-acre public park under construction is a gift from Foundation to the community.

She said the idea for the park first came about once the old hospital that sat on the property was sold. The profits of the sale were put into an endowment to be used for community projets.

“It was determined we would build a great community park,” Jones said.

The determination came after years of surveys, focus groups and research into how to best use the space, and whether the building that formerly housed Clark Regional Medical Center could be repurposed.

The name Legacy Grove reflects GCF ’s long-term intentions for the park, Jones said; it evokes a sense of tribute to the former community hospital that was on the property.

“The name Legacy Grove was selected as a tribute to past and as a hope for the future,” Jones said. “The term legacy, to us, embraced the legacy of the hospital, what it was and is for the community, a place of healing, wellness and economic development. So, ‘legacy’ was a tribute to the past of what it was, but legacy was also for the future. It’s a legacy for future generations.”

The park is about 80 percent complete, and Jones said GCF expects the park to open in the early summer, but inclement weather could delay its official opening.

Jones said she hopes the park will provide beautiful space for the people of Winchester and Clark County to play, exercise, reflect and connect with their neighbors.

The urban park will include a two-acre children’s adventure play area designed by Learning Landscapes Design as well as other features designed by landscape architecture firm CARMAN including paved walking paths, Clark County’s first ever dog park, more than 200 newly planted trees and open lawns.

“We hope people come from far away to visit the adventure play area,” Jones said.

Dean Builds is developing the park, which will be ADA-accessible with a paved walking path throughout, and the play area will have options for children of all abilities.

“We’re excited about the power of play and what it does for children,” Jones said. “Play has the power to stimulate their minds, develop their problem-solving skills, foster that sense of wonder and social interaction among children of all abilities.”

Jones said the park would also have accessible entrances from surrounding neighborhoods.

The park design and features stem from the input of nearly 200 Clark County residents over the past five years about how to repurpose the land where the former hospital once stood through discussions, committee meetings and even a Youth Design Team made up of area youth.

“It’s been a community process from the beginning,” Jones said.

The design initially shown to the community has some slight changes, Jones said, but the essential elements of open spaces, connectivity, inclusiveness and adventure remain the focus.

“Inclusiveness has been important to us from the very beginning,” Jones said.

The play area will include many unique features, including a custom-designed dulcimer climber. It pays tribute to the famous Appalachian string instrument and Kentucky’s most renowned dulcimer-maker Homer Ledford, who called Winchester home. Children can climb on, in and throughout the dulcimer and make music, songs and dance.

Jones said she knows Legacy Grove will be a great park, in turn, impacting the community more than people realize. She recalls a two-year neighborhood park study that showed the benefits of a park with an accessible walking trail, play areas and organized programs.

Parks that are intentional in their design to emphasize inclusivity and connectivity, unite people. They bring communities together, Jones said, and that is the hope for Legacy Grove.

“Legacy Grove will be a community treasure because great communities have great public parks.” §