HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – The Hopkinsville City Council received an update about the Rotary Park development at Pardue Lane during the Sept. 17 meeting after bids for construction were nearly $1 million over budget.
Multiple grants have been accepted to help fund the park totaling $686,000, and $100,000 was donated by Hopkinsville Rotary Club for an inclusive playground. The city currently has $956,000 available to cover the rest of the costs, according to Hopkinsville Chief Financial Officer Melissa Clayton. The bid they received was for nearly $2 million to complete the entire project.
“We just want to step back and look at how we are going to do this and how we can bring it into budget where we can be because we don’t want to start rewriting grants,” said Hopkinsville Mayor J.R. Knight.
Public Works director Mike Perry stated that they plan to split the project in two, only accepting bids for the southside portion of the park while also downsizing the sidewalk sizes to lower cost. This would leave the northside unfinished until additional funding is available. Perry also added that when grants are in play, labor costs are drastically increased.
Located right next to the dog park, the southside area will have an inclusive playground, a pavilion, sidewalks, and benches. This would leave the basketball court, parking lot, and additional pavilion and sidewalk developments on the smaller northside portion to pushed aside for now. Bids will be open to contractors within the next couple of weeks.
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