Work begins on final Saunders Park project

Work began Thursday on the final project of Mt. Pleasant’s Saunders Park master plan.

Hickey Contracting Company arrived on site Thursday to begin prep work on the replacement and expansion of the parking lot and street improvements on Saunders Road.

“They started delivering stuff today,” City Administrator Brent Schleisman said Thursday morning. “Utilities has been removing poles to get them out of the way for the work, and they’ve got the ”road closed“ sign up.”

The project includes replacing and expanding the parking area in what Schleisman called the lower portion of the park. More parking spaces, including handicap parking, will be added as part of the expansion.

“We’re also doing about 400-500 feet of roadway on Saunders Road,” Schleisman said.

The City Council awarded the $150,739.90 bid to Hickey Contracting in mid-January. The bid was well below the estimated cost of $183,000.

“They hope to be in and out of there by the first week of June, weather permitting” Schleisman said. “They have until the end of June to finish the project.”

The project is a continuation of the overall master plan for Saunders Park, Schleisman said.

Last fall, completed the final phase of a 10-mile trail system, which runs through Saunders Park.

That final portion stretched just over a mile through Saunders Park, spanning from Warren Street by Henry County Health Center to the Mt. Pleasant Family Aquatic Center.

The total cost for that phase was approximately $477,000. The city obtained two grants from the Iowa Department of Transportation, which contributed $250,000 to the project, as well as a Wellmark Foundation grant of $100,000.

“Phase 6 is finished,” Schleisman said. “It’s under DOT review, but it’s in place, opened, and people are using it.”

He said that the parking lot project ties into the trail project because the trail stops at the parking lot.

“This is the last part of the master plan,” he said. “The City Council has been picking away at it.”