In Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” she sings: “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” Now, thanks to years of planning and fundraising, Lexington is reversing that trend by transforming a former parking lot into a community greenspace.
On August 23, city officials and community members will officially open the park, featuring family-friendly activities, a Kentucky artist showcase and pop-up dance performances. The christening of CommonSpirit Health Stage — a 4,500-seat amphitheater — will include opening-day performances by American Idol winner Noah Thompson, Tee Dee Young, Joslyn & The Sweet Compression, Vinyl Richie, DeBraun Thomas, Devine Carama and Mama Said String Band.
Brian Sipe, general manager for Oak View Group (OVG), which also manages shows locally at Rupp Arena and the Lexington Opera House, has also booked several national headliners, including the Beach Boys (September 17) and Kansas, Jefferson Starship and Molly Hatchet (October 9), with more to be announced.
“Our market has been missing a space like this,” Sipe said of Gatton Park’s entertainment capabilities. “I know Daren Turner is opening a venue that’s going to fit around 2,000 [people] at The Commons, but other than that I think we’ll be the next step up. We’re not taking pieces of the pie — we’re growing it.”
A rendering of CommonSpirit Health Stage, the 4,500-seat amphitheater at Gatton Park.
Sipe said OVG plans to host roughly 20 national acts annually on Gatton Park’s stage, with shows being scheduled between mid-April and mid-October. Local programming will include live music, nonprofit collaborations, group yoga, running clubs and educational activities along Town Branch Creek, which runs through the 10-acre park.
“This year we want to give a little flavor of the types of programming people will see once we have a full season to work with in 2026,” said Allison Lankford, executive director for the Gatton Park on the Town Branch fund. “We’re trying to create a space for opportunity, because that’s what Lexingtonians wanted. They’re excited about those national shows Brian and OVG will be producing, and they also want spaces for our local nonprofits and creatives to be able to shine.”
A rendering of the splash pad play area.
“We’ve restored the stream bed by taking out all the invasive species and replacing them with appropriate flora and really trying to bring the habitat back to what it once was,” Lankford said.
A man-made wall dating to 1790 and used to help mitigate stormwater runoff was also found during renovations and has been restored using the original stone.
Four art installations have also been installed, including an arched metal entry dubbed “Petal-Drop-Flutter” by sculptor Blessing Hancock; StudioKCA’s “First Impressions,” a massive sculpture comprised of 117 interlocking precast concrete panels; “Watermark” by Amanda Matthews, which recognizes the park’s donors; and a mural across a repurposed R.J. Corman boxcar that will house the park’s food vending operations. A fifth piece of public artwork is slated to be added in 2026.
Lankford said the park has also partnered with national event catering and concessions company DLS to facilitate on-site food and beverage sales. “They’re known for bringing in local providers and food trucks to assist in operations,” she said.
It’s been a lot of moving pieces and a long time coming for the once beleaguered and delayed project that initially stemmed from a master plan for downtown created in 2009. Although it was never formally adopted by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, the city did launch a design competition for the area in 2013 that included trail connectivity and public space improvement as its pillars, two things that are also rooted in the park’s infrastructure.
After federal funding proved elusive, the Blue Grass Community Foundation launched the Town Branch Fund in 2015, bringing together local civic leaders and philanthropists to pursue public–private financing.
Since then, the fund has raised over $55 million. Fully 98 percent of that total came from private sources — major gifts, events such as Picnic With The Pops, and philanthropists including the late Bill Gatton, whose $14.5 million donation in May 2024 secured the park’s name. The remaining 2 percent primarily came from a $1 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service in September 2023.
“[The Forest Service] gave us a couple grants to improve the stormwater infrastructure around the park since almost all the downtown core’s stormwater runs through Town Branch Creek and the park,” Lankford said. “But by and large it’s been private philanthropy that’s pushed the park forward.”
With the Town Branch Trail fully open since 2022, Lankford calls Gatton Park’s debut the missing link that finally connects downtown Lexington to the burgeoning Distillery District. “It’s incredible that philanthropic dollars are bringing this to Lexington. It’s truly built by the people, for the people,” Lankford said. “Central parks in the core of downtown have a special place in society. If we’ve learned anything in the years since COVID, it’s that places like this are loved and critical to our communities.”