The resurrection of the sternwheel towboat Mary Woods No. 2 project and the related improvements and additions to the White River in Batesville are making progress. Steve Auterman, Architect, Planner, and Urban Designer, has joined the project. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Memphis. Auterman, who works for Looney Ricks Kiss Architects in Memphis, also worked on the 2008 White River riverfront plan. This will be a major step toward implementing the 2008 plan for the White River with a supportive community.
Organizers, including Dale Cole, John Dews, Steve Carpenter, Jack Krepps, Cathy Drew, County Judge Robert Griffin, and Mayor Rick Elumbaugh, are confident that repairing the Mary Woods No. 2 and moving it up the river to Batesville will provide the momentum and the local support to make it happen.
The architecture and planning firm of Looney Ricks Kiss, based in Memphis, Tenn., has been engaged to help design the new Mary Woods No.2, its site and surroundings. Under the direction of First Community Bank, LRK prepared the Batesville Waterfront Master Plan in 2008, which created a vision for enhancing the White River waterfront with active river-oriented uses. The plan called for a number of improvements to bring residents and visitors to Batesville to experience the White River.
In addition to the sitting of the vessel alongside the White River, LRK will be continuing the implementation of the Waterfront Master Plan by planning the area around the Mary Woods 2 site including nearby features from the 2008 plan. These include a pedestrian bridge over the White River near the spillway linking both sides of the river, a Ferris Wheel, information center, access to the river flats below the spillway, hotel and conference center, parking, lighting, landscaping and other improvements.
