Liberty Landing, the $13 million riverfront project reshaping the village's Ohio River shoreline, has been under development for years, with construction along Front Street. In July 2026, Clermont County said construction was entering its home stretch.
The $13.4 million redevelopment is fully funded through the State of Ohio's Appalachian Community Grant Program, part of a $500 million statewide effort championed by Governor Mike DeWine to invest in Ohio's 32 Appalachian counties, according to WVXU. Clermont County is the westernmost county designated within that Appalachian region, meaning New Richmond's project carries no local tax burden. WKRC reported that an opening date had been announced for the project, according to WKRC.
A Riverfront Built to Handle Boats and Barges
Engineered by KZF Design and built by Prus Construction, the project features a steel sheet pile retaining wall that extends Front Street outward by roughly 25 feet over the Ohio River bank, creating public overhang overlooks and widened sidewalks, per information from Clermont County. Crews completed the structural retaining wall in spring 2026 before resurfacing the road and installing sidewalks, the county notes.
The project's centerpiece, a 300-foot floating public boat dock, arrived on the New Richmond riverfront in July after being fabricated in Washington state and shipped cross-country via river barge down the Ohio River, WCPO reported. The dock received electrical outfitting and temporary storage at Cincinnati's Washington Marine before crews towed it into its final New Richmond position, the station's report noted.
A Name Rooted in New Richmond's Underground Railroad History
Former Village Administrator Greg Roberts has said the name Liberty Landing was chosen during early planning to honor New Richmond's 19th-century abolitionist history and ties to the Underground Railroad, per the WVXU account. The village's initial site preparation began with a preliminary $300,000 planning grant, long before the project reached its current scale.
New Richmond leaders originally envisioned a modest $3 million riverfront facelift inspired by Rising Sun, Indiana, before securing state grant funding that helped expand the project to $13.4 million—about 4.47 times the initial estimate, WVXU reported. Early planning efforts spanned multiple municipal administrations before the project's official groundbreaking in August 2025.
Construction Strained Front Street Businesses
Construction along Front Street created friction with local merchants over lost parking spaces, reduced lane widths, and temporary access closures. The floating riverboat restaurant Skippers departed in January 2024 amid controversy. Remaining downtown businesses, including Green Kayak Grill & Pub, weathered months of streetscape construction as the project progressed.
Liberty Landing is one piece of a broader $36 million regional riverfront revitalization initiative along the Ohio River, which also includes Ripley's $16.4 million Freedom Landing project and Higginsport's $6.3 million park overhaul in neighboring Brown County, according to the Office of Governor Mike DeWine. Governor DeWine unveiled the multi-village initiative under the state's Wonderful Waterfronts program in May 2024. Hoodline covered Ripley's sister project last week.
More Than Docks: Amphitheater, Terrace and Boat Ramp Upgrades
Beyond watercraft access, the project includes event space, according to the Office of Governor Mike DeWine.
Liberty Landing also arrives amid a record construction boom across Clermont County, where officials issued 6,156 building permits in 2025, the highest single-year total in county history, Hoodline previously reported on the county's permit record. Commercial and industrial permit volume grew by more than 10 percent in 2025 compared to the prior year, with Liberty Landing cited as a major public driver of that growth.
