City park improvements on the way
Gateway Engineers will begin planning improvements to parks in the City of Butler for its Park Improvement Project, funded by the Community Development Block Grant-CARES Act funding.
The Butler Redevelopment Authority voted Thursday to accept a proposal from Gateway Engineers to work on projects at Memorial Park, Rotary Park, Father Marinaro Park and Christie Avenue Playground, at a cost of up to $178,000.
Veronica Walker, executive director of the Butler Redevelopment Authority, said the company will handle all the engineering duties related to the park improvement projects.
“They will be creating the bid specs for all four of those projects,” Walker said. “We haven’t gotten the contract signed, it will get signed after the board meeting since it has been approved.”
According to Walker, the planned improvements include installing two playgrounds, a new restroom and parking improvements at Memorial Park; a new sidewalk at Christie Avenue; a new playground and parking area at Rotary Park; and a new parking area at Father Marinaro Park.
Walker also said she expects Gateway Engineers to begin work soon. The grant money paying for the improvements must be spent by the end of 2023, according to Walker.
Brian McCafferty, chairman of the Butler Redevelopment Authority, said the projects are a collaboration between the authority and city council.
“They went to the employees of parks and streets departments to try to gather information and prioritize,” McCafferty said. “I think they got a really good list of improvements that are going to impact the city in a really good way. It’s really great to see.”
In other business, the authority members voted to change the regular meeting time from 2 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month to 10 a.m. the second Thursday of each month. Meetings take place in the Redevelopment Authority office at 129 W. Cunningham St.
