Cincinnati's new Black Music Walk of Fame is scheduled to open next summer

The Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame is scheduled to open next July, in time for the Cincinnati Music Festival.

Mayor John Cranley called the area outside the Andrew J. Brady Icon Music Center, currently known as Lot 28, "the last little corner here of the riverfront park."

The city of Cincinnati has signed the deed to the property over to Hamilton County, Cranley said during a Wednesday press conference.

What is now a flat lot, covered in gravel, will be an interactive park that will include a Walk of Fame, with Hollywood-style stars, honoring musicians with connections to Hamilton County.

There will be technology like QR codes for phones to scan so guests can read about the local artists, said Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece. 

More:'Their struggle needs to be told': Plans for Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame unveiled

The park will be free to walk through.

"What was missing here was something permanent to honor African American artists," Reece said. 

Hamilton County will be footing the bill for the park and currently has $9 million budgeted for the infrastructure, building and technology needed for the interactive park. Procter & Gamble has donated $135,000 to the park, which will cover the Walk of Fame stars for the first four years.

The first four inductees to receive stars on the Walk of Fame will be Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Bootsy Collins, King Records icon Otis Williams, and Grammy winners the Isley Brothers and the late gospel great Charles Fold. (The Isley Brothers also are Hall of Famers.)

The park is planned to be open in time for the Cincinnati Music Festival but will remain a fixture on the riverfront year-round.

Reece said, "To the whole world, come on to Cincinnati, come on to Hamilton County."

Contact Briana Rice at 513-568-3496 or brice@enquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BriRiceWrites.