Council approves preliminary design services for downtown park project
Aug. 11—Newton City Council on Aug. 7 approved an agreement with Bolton & Menk to complete the preliminary design services for the upcoming downtown park, which originally began as the splash pad project. While the city has not named the park, the project is referred to as the downtown spray park and gathering space.
According to city documents, the council passed a resolution detailing the city's commitment to take the lead on the design and construction of the downtown park. This action followed efforts by a group of private citizens associated with the Newton Main Street Economic Vitality Committee.
The park is to be constructed at the vacant city-owned lot at 224 W. Third St. N.
When the committee submitted its proposed concept plan, city staff sought requests for qualifications (RFQ) from interested design firms. The city received eight RFQ submittals, which were then scored by both the committee and city staff. Bolton & Menk scored the highest of all eight firms.
Bolton & Menk, city staff and Newton Main Street met to better define the scope of the project in attempts to secure the design services proposal. The meeting did not produce a completely defined scope of the project, so a two-part design services proposal was requested to keep the project moving forward.
The agreement tasks Bolton & Menk with data collection, project coordination, preliminary design work and public art for $49,000.
