Construction on the Midtown redevelopment’s Village Green, is nearly complete, with the park opening just in time to become a holiday destination for out-of-town guests.
“It’s starting to come together and it’s starting to look like a park now,” Karen Collins, community services director for the City of Plant City, said just before Thanksgiving.
Rain could have slowed contractors’ progress during crunch time last week, but “they just kept on working anyway,” Collins said. Plus, the rain was good for the new trees.
Earlier this week, staff of WESCO Fountains Inc. were on site to finish installing the fountain’s drain grates and tiles, and test the fountain. The $160,000 fountain, set as the park’s main decorative feature, is now complete.
Also within the last two weeks, contractors have poured concrete for the sidewalk, put in brick paver pathways, laid brick and installed furniture.
Though the park will be finished by the middle of the month, a ribbon cutting ceremony has been postponed until late December or early January. Collins did not want the ceremony to interfere with any of the city’s Christmas events, such as Lights of Love or the annual Christmas Parade.
The park will not be decorated for Christmas this year. Because city officials were not sure how quickly the park would be complete, they did not order decorations for it. But, it will be decorated for next year’s holiday season.
City Manager Mike Herr’s next steps for the Midtown redevelopment are to verify the status of remaining funds and determine the remaining properties to be acquired. There are also some properties in the process of being evaluated for acquisition. The properties and value of remaining funds will be disclosed at a later date, Herr said.
Before requesting a quote from the potential developing companies, Herr would like to have a market study conducted on the area, through a real estate consultant. Then, requests for quotes will be submitted between January and April 2015.
“In the short time he’s been here, (Herr) has been very aggressive on marketing the Midtown area and starting the conversation with potential developers,” Collins said.
She expects the Village Green to contribute, as well — particularly when they assess the area in the spring and the park’s botanicals are in full bloom.
“That is very attractive to potential developers coming into the area,” Collins said. “That’s a feature that they like to have.”
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.
