Title
R.A. LONG PARK IMPROVEMENTS
COUNCIL STRATEGIC INITIATIVE ADDRESSED:
Address quality of place issues
CITY ATTORNEY REVIEW: N/A
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
On March 25, 2010, the City Council approved Resolution 1957 adopting the R.A. Long Park Master Plan. This Plan was developed to accomplish three goals: 1) Celebrate the history of R.A. Long Park; 2) Enhance pedestrian and vehicular safety and park access within the Circle; and 3) Increase activity and improve the condition of R.A. Long Park.
The phase 1 Park improvements to construct the fountain, replace the concrete plaza, replace west plaza steps with ADA ramp, upgrade park lighting, and upgrade the existing electrical service was advertised for bids in February 2016. The received bids significantly exceeded the available budget and all bids were rejected. Subsequently, the City Council and Historic Preservation Commission agreed to resolve safety issues by removing the upper concrete plaza and portions of the lower plaza, with a commitment to begin construction on the replacement in 2018. Those plaza areas were removed and replaced with grass.
Recently there have been suggestions that a gazebo or pavilion structure would be a more appropriate and useful feature for the park than a fountain, and likely be less costly; and that perhaps the central concrete plaza should be eliminated. Staff presented conceptual design options and cost estimates for Council consideration at the workshop held on 8-15-17:
1. Replace the upper and lower plaza with historic concrete and fountain the center of the upper plaza
2. Replace the upper and lower plaza with historic concrete and gazebo in the center of the upper plaza
3. Replace the lower plaza with historic concrete, upper plaza with grass and gazebo in the center of the upper plaza
4. Other park improvements - park lighting, electrical service, sidewalk repairs
At the workshop, Council directed staff to develop conceptual design for option 3 and include par...
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