DAYTON — The city of Trenton and the city of Monroe are the newest partners of the Great Miami Riverway Coalition. The Great Miami Riverway, a program of the Miami Conservancy District’s River Corridor Improvement Subdistrict, is a partnership with local communities to support and encourage people to live, work, and play safely along the Great Miami River.
Launched in 2017, the Coalition now includes 20 partners including cities, counties, park districts, and other organizations who work together to promote riverfront communities, recreation, and economic development along the Great Miami River.
“We are tied together by a common thread – the Great Miami Riverway,” says Christian Mattingly, city of West Carrollton, chair of the Riverway Coalition. “By bringing our communities together, we are seeing millions of dollars of public and private sector investment in our Riverway communities.”
Recent programs include the development of a Riverway App to help visitors explore riverfront communities and discover recreation. To help visitors find their way along the Riverway, over 30 kiosks are now installed in communities. In 2023, both river and trail events were held including the Great Float, the Smallmouth Bass Fishing Challenge, a Half-Marathon, and the River Bike Ride.
According to the latest economic study, the Great Miami Riverway represents a $913 million tourism impact. The goal of the Great Miami Riverway is to develop and implement ongoing marketing, planning, and programming to: increase use of recreational, historical, and cultural assets; attract more visitors; support economic development; and strengthen river corridor neighborhoods.
“The Great Miami Riverway is made stronger with the addition of Trenton and Monroe,” said MaryLynn Lodor, General Manager of the Miami Conservancy District. “There are many rivers in the country, but there are not many rivers with as many unique, thriving communities that are connected by a national water trail and Ohio’s largest connected paved trail network.”
Both Trenton and Monroe feature local shops, brewpubs, and restaurants that draw people to the Great Miami Riverway. Moeller Brew Barn recently opened a brewery, taproom, and restaurant in Monroe. Trenton ‘s destinations include the farm market Bunk-n-Barn which is home to homemade goods and gifts, homegrown vegetables, flowers, and seasonal fun such as pumpkins and fall décor.
The city of Trenton is home to several significant employers, including online automotive retailer CarVana. In 2020, they opened a 1,000 employee, $24 million automotive processing facility. The city of Monroe is home to the North American headquarters of Deceuninck Corporation, a manufacturer of window and door systems, as well as Century Mold, whose automotive parts are found in almost seventy percent of all US automobiles.
Trenton offers nearly 180 acres of parks and is situated directly across SR 73 from the Great Miami River Recreation Trail, with opportunities to make stronger linkages between the city and improved access to the river and the trail network.
Monroe is focused on building a new bike trail segment to connect to the Miami Valley Bike Trail system. Once complete the new trail will link Monroe with Middletown and Hamilton. Monroe is also building a new 11-acre riverfront park, formerly the site of the LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park, called Bicentennial Commons.
The Great Miami Riverway Coalition was awarded the 2019 Silver Award for Regionalism and Cross-Border Collaboration by the International Economic Development Council for the innovative approach to regionalism to drive economic development, business retention & expansion, marketing, trade, tourism, and more.
The Great Miami Riverway is building a strong, vibrant network of communities, connected by more than 99 miles of river, by increasing economic and community investment to attract more visitors, customers, jobs, and talented workers to southwest Ohio. www.greatmiamiriverway.com.
