Signs of a park’s progress: Work at Vissing Park moving along

Clark County

Discussion

September 11, 2012

Signs of a park’s progress: Work at Vissing Park moving along

By BRADEN LAMMERS braden.lammers@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Tue Sep 11, 2012, 07:28 PM EDT

JEFFERSONVILLE — Updates continue to roll in for the Vissing Park rehabilitation project off of 10th Street in Jeffersonville.

The Jeffersonville Parks Authority Board received new information and a preliminary proposal for signage in the park at its meeting Monday.

Matt Gullo, landscape architect and planner with Kovert Hawkins Architects, said construction is moving forward at the park, especially on the south side of the complex. He said the focus is to finish the south portion before shifting focus to the north end of the park and seed the south fields with grass by the end of September. Before the park is finished, signage is expected to be installed and the first proposal at what will greet the Vissing Park visitors was presented Monday. The parks authority board was shown two preliminary designs for all signage.

Regardless of what option is chosen, Gullo offered that a main entrance sign should be placed near 10th Street and Vissing Park Drive to direct people into the park.

“That’s really the signage that you see as you come up to Vissing Park,” he said. “We saw that right at 10th Street ... because [despite] how big that park is, a lot of people don’t really know where it is.”

In addition, a secondary entrance sign is likely at the actual entrance into the park, as well as directional signs inside the park and signs on the four walking trails that weave through the woods surrounding the park. Mile-markers and educational signs were part of the proposal offered, but no potential costs were offered with the conceptual designs.

“We’re really early in the process here,” said Parks Director Paul Northam.

He said a sign proposal is probably something that will come around in January or February, adding that the parks department still needs to discuss a proposal offered by the Vissing family.

Vissing Park’s changing costs

James Lake, architect with Kovert Hawkins, presented several change orders to the park’s authority board.

The first change order included 10 items that were presented, paid for in the contingency allowance in the contract, totaling $29,287. A second change order reduced the contingency allowance, and in turn lowered the contract sum with AML — the contractor for the project — that totaled $31,400. Both change orders presented were unanimously approved.

The overall status update offered by Lake was positive.

“Vissing Park is ahead of schedule and under budget,” he said.

Employees needed

Jeffersonville resident Richard Eklund and Sandy Knott, members of the parks facilities board, both offered the need to hire additional employees in the parks department to maintain the city’s landscaping. They both said weeds have become an issue in various areas around the city.

“I think the time has come to really get serious about adding some people,” Knott said. “We’ve built all these beautiful things and then they can’t be maintained and that’s pretty sad.”