Title
R.A. LONG PARK IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT UPDATE
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.
Implementation of the park improvements was divided into 3 phases to maximize opportunities for grants and other funding sources. In 2013, the City Council allocated $300,000 from the Kuntz Family Trust to complete a portion of the phase 1 improvements. An additional $100,000 was allocated from the Capital Projects Fund to replace damaged sidewalks/walkways in and around the park. Additionally, in 2014 the City was offered a donation of $75,000 toward construction of a fountain in the center plaza.
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 central 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. The next step in the project is to confirm or consider updating the R.A. Long Park master plan to re...
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