Residents will be able to enjoy another city park by summertime.
Brewer Park, located off Grant Street, is currently under construction. It is named after the late Dr. Hal Brewer, an active member of the community who died last November.
Excavation of the pond in the center of the park has been completed, and the contractor has ordered the gate valves needed to control the pond elevation. It will take about three weeks until those valves arrive. The pond will be a fully functioning stormwater management system. City Engineer Brett Gocka said the city is looking at a converting several other locations into parks with the same water management system design.
Eventually, the city hopes to link all 18 of its parks.
“The idea is to create and environment where people can move from one park to the other, connected by sidewalks,” Gocka said.
Brewer Park will have a one-half-mile trail around the pond. The last section of the concrete trail around the pond was finished last week.
A Florida Department of Environmental Protection grant funded the $207,000 trail. Under the grant stipulations, the city had to finish the trail and the ramp to the roadway crossing at Grant Street by Feb. 28.
The rest of the park is funded by $185,000 of city funds.
This month, bench pads, gazebos pads and bike paths will be installed. A monument sign also will be placed in the park, but there is no scheduled date for installation.
“Just like our other parks, we would like to put our sign there,” City Manager Greg Horwedel said. “But it’s something we don’t want to do until our new branding is in place.”
The city wants to rebrand itself with a new logo, colors and motto. It is working on a packet to present to bidders. Horwedel said the Brewer Park sign may be the first with the new logo and colors.
The city is also awaiting a proposal for the crosswalk flashers.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgense@plantcityobserver.com.