Jordan Valley Park, spending move forward

While costs and completion time for Jordan Valley Park projects exceed initial estimates, city officials say park development is moving ahead in an efficient manner.

About $10.3 million has been spent on Jordan Valley Park in downtown Springfield since the project began in late 1998, according to city finance records.

Nearly $9.1 million of that total has been spent on phase I, with land acquisition and clearance accounting for about $7 million. Little more than $1.2 million has been spent so far on the $7.3 million recreational ice skating arena, now under construction in the 34-acre phase I site.

The spending figures cover the period of June 1998 to February of this year, the latest month for which city officials have complete financial information.

Exclusive of the ice arena, phase I park development was originally estimated to cost $12 million to $13 million and was to be paid for by hotel/motel tax revenues, according to information issued at the beginning of the project.

Since 1998, the city's Public Building Corporation has sold three revenue bond issues two for a 20-year life and one for 30 years that provide a total of $26,241,467 in financing for park development and facilities costs. Records show that over the life of the bonds, the installment payments, which include interest and other fees, add up to a projected total of $65,675,564.

A major source of revenue to pay for the park and ice arena is expected to come from the 2.5 percent lodging tax increase approved by voters four years ago. The increased tax was estimated to yield $1.3 million the first year and total $37.5 million over a 20-year period with the help of economic growth.

In the first full collection year, the lodging tax netted $1,262,458, and it grew to $1,322,450 for the second year, from July 1999 through June 2000, according to city records. Through February of this year the accumulated total was $3,639,261.

Jordan Valley Park and the ice arena combined get nearly two-thirds of these funds, and the remainder goes to a variety of local cultural projects, including the American National Fish and Wildlife Museum now under construction next to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.

One of the city bond issues, in the principal amount of $8.85 million, was sold specifically to finance the recreational ice skating arena. It has a projected total payoff amount of $18.9 million. Officials have said they will need to combine operating revenue from the arena with its share of the lodging tax allotment in order to pay for the arena.

Construction on the ice facility, located on the north side of Trafficway east of Benton Avenue, began a few months ago and is expected to be complete next fall.

The contractor is Walton Construction of Springfield, which came in with the low bid of $7.3 million, said Bill Hobbs of the city-county Parks Department. In addition to the building itself, the ice arena project includes construction of a parking lot and relocation of a sewer line, Hobbs said.

The ice facility was originally estimated to cost between $6 million and $7 million. But Jordan Valley Park Project Director Benjamin Alexander said officials feel fortunate that, at a time of higher construction costs, the contract did not greatly exceed the top end of the estimate range.

The arena is about 75,000 square feet and will have two skating surfaces, each about 85 feet by 200 feet. It will seat 500 to 1,000 people and provide a venue for public recreational skating, figure skating, amateur ice hockey or other community events.

To make way for the ice arena and phase I park land, the city acquired several parcels of private property at a cost of nearly $6.25 million, according to city records. That figure accounts for two-thirds of the nearly $9.1 million spent on park development through February.

The most expensive single land purchase was the $2,543,000 paid for the Thompson Pontiac- GMC-Cadillac operation, which was settled through land condemnation and court action. The Greyhound Bus Terminal property also was acquired through eminent domain.

Subsequent demolition and land clearance, which removed the Thompson dealership, Greyhound, the old Sears warehouse, DaBryan Coach Builders and Tri-States/Whiteley laundry, was done by Spirtas Wrecking of St. Louis.

Spirtas' $657,000 was the lowest of eight bids, according to Don Clark, head of the city's Purchasing Department.

"We actually paid more, but that's not unusual," he said of add-on costs for unanticipated extra work that will bring the estimated total to about $776,000. The additional costs were due mostly to such things as the removal of asbestos or other environmental hazards which hadn't been previously discovered, Clark said.

But he said officials are pleased with the fact that the demolition project cost far less than the $1.25 million original estimate.

Park development legal costs, mostly related to the disputes arising out of land acquisition, have amounted to $261,000 paid to two law firms, Husch & Eppenberger and Yates Mauck Bohrer, according to Marilyn Day of the city Legal Department.

Another facet of Jordan Valley Park's first phase is the Boonville Avenue Streetscape. It includes new sidewalk, curb and gutter; distinctive sidewalk paving; ornate traffic signals; trees with cast iron tree grates; and decorative pedestrian street lights.

The first stage of the streetscape, from Park Central Square to Water Street, was completed last year at a cost of about $500,000, paid for with lodging tax money, Alexander said.

Officials are moving toward a second two-block streetscape stage, from Water Street to Phelps Street. This project will cost $412,000, with 80 percent coming from a state transportation grant and the remainder from the lodging tax, Alexander said.

Later this spring or in early summer, he said, work will start on the estimated $4.3 million in outdoor park features in phase I, located north of Trafficway between Sherman Parkway on the east and Benton Avenue on the west.

The outdoor features development includes green space, irrigation systems, walkways, pedestrian lighting and related construction. Included in that cost is a $1 million water feature being paid for by City Utilities of Springfield.

On a related front, Alexander said, progress is being made toward "streetscape greenways." One phase encompasses a pedestrian route on the south side of Water Street from Benton Avenue to Boonville Avenue, connecting to Founders Park. Another phase encompasses a route north of Water Street, from Jefferson Avenue to Boonville Avenue.

Those phases are estimated to cost $1,145,000, Alexander said, with about 75 percent coming from federal money and the remainder from the hotel/motel tax.

Although phase I was originally scheduled for completion this spring, the project director says it is now targeted for a grand opening in the spring 2002.

But despite being a year behind schedule, Alexander believes the project has been moving along efficiently and realistically, and he noted that sometimes planners set tighter target dates than are realistic in order to keep things moving.