Following approval from the Park Board April 21, contractors will soon be invited to bid on work at McCollum Park.
While earlier proposals have been trimmed, the plan still represents the first major upgrade for the nearly 30-year-old park. Park staff have created a work plan that adds a concession stand and restrooms in the south ballfield area, expands the south parking lot, and renovates the north entrance and tennis court plaza area.
Director of Parks Todd Reese explained staff had been looking for ways to pare down project costs and will offer some previously discussed items as alternate bids, including terraced seating areas on south ballfields One and Two, dugouts, and permeable paver bricks and solar-powered lighting for the expanded parking lot.
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Staff also hopes to save money by re-using the fill that will be cut out to expand the parking lot rather than dumping it offsite, Reese said.
Along with bidding out the McCollum upgrades, Reese said staff will look into bundling work at other parks, including the installation of lighting at the south Memorial Park field, improvements to the Hummer Park parking lot, basketball court replacement at Concord Square and O'Brien parks, and the replacement of the floor at the Gilbert Park pavilion. Administrator Dan Cermak cautioned that it might not be possible to group the work together this way, but staff would try in order to save money.
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The Park Board had discussed installing a spray park near the tennis courts at McCollum, and Cermak told commissioners that this was still an option, but would depend on costs for the other work.
Bids should be returned to the Park District around May 24, and staff hope to get board approval for work to go ahead on June 16. Construction should begin in late June and will take about a year.
