[ back ]
Long-awaited veterans park nears completion
(by Sue Reid - April 07, 2010)
Long-awaited veterans park nears completion
By SUE REID
Solon Veterans Memorial Park is set to be complete by May, Assistant Public Works Director David Hromco said Monday.
A sculpture of an eagle to be included in the park's fountain and approved by City Council at a cost of $32,000 is to be finished in mid-July, he said. The park originally was planned for completion by last Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2009.
Mr. Hromco told City Council's safety and public properties committee during a special meeting that part of the original concept of the park was to have a look that would align the three visual features of the city-owned property, including the center of the fountain, the center of the gazebo and the cupola atop Fire Station 2.
Mr. Hromco showed the committee examples of eagle sculptures that could be created by Robert Eccleston, of New York.
"It's a significant cost, and we understand those concerns," Mr. Hromco said of the sculpture. He noted that the sculptor had indicated that the foundries he works with are not as busy and he was able to knock off $5,000 from the original $37,000 price tag.
He said the city's design consultant had given a cost estimate of the sculpture at $25,000 in 2009.
The eagle would sit atop a rock in the fountain. From the top of the rock to the top of the wing, it would be about 2 to 2.5 feet high, Mr. Hromco said.
He also reported the costs involved with the project thus far. Current construction costs for the park are at $671,000. That figure includes the amount of the three contracts for the park, plus some miscellaneous construction costs that were needed, he said. Professional design fees, testing fees and certain infrastructure costs for the project are not included in this figure, Mr. Hromco said. The amount budgeted for the park's construction cost is $730,000, with contingencies built in, he said.
Mr. Hromco said it is his office's intention to present a formal change order at the safety committee's meeting April 14 in the vicinity of $31,000 for electrical work and park layout changes. "That will be the big final cost of this," he said. With the change order and without the eagle sculpture, the park's cost was at $702,000, he said.
With the approval of the eagle, an additional appropriation to the capital-improvement fund for the project in the amount of about $34,000 would be needed, Mr. Hromco said.
"There are continual change orders on this project as we progress," Councilman William I. Russo said.
"It has been a long, drawn-out project, and we've had our share of challenges," Mr. Hromco said. "It would be nice to get it out of the way."
Planning Director Robert S. Frankland said the project has been planned since 2001, and a fountain out front with a dramatic sculpture have been part of the original concept.
The main pieces of the memorial park include the fountain, which is close to the intersection of Bainbridge and SOM Center (Route 91) roads, and will be lit. The park will feature a new gazebo, which was designed based upon casts of the old one. There will be a memorial area around the fountain. It will include seven monuments to signify each branch of the military. The monuments will include names of Solon residents who served. In between the monuments will be flags representing the branches of service, as well as an American flag.
Behind the memorial area and in front of the rebuilt gazebo will be a low-slung wall. The backdrop to the park is Fire Station No. 2
Mr. Frankland said the memorial park is part of a larger plan for the intersection. He said the new fire station there was designed in accordance with the plan. The basic design has been in place since 2001, when the planning department submitted the center-of-town plan to City Council, he said.
[ back ]
