Before the dog run can be built, trail connections made and a playground erected, work on Lincoln's newest park needs to focus underground.Â
As soon as this fall, crews could begin relocating underground sanitary sewer lines and burying an overhead electrical transmission line crossing the site of South Haymarket Park at Seventh and N streets, city parks and recreation officials said.Â
The park, approved by the Lincoln City Council in May, would remake an overgrown, vacant lot on the Haymarket's southern edge into a magnet for families, cyclists, downtown dog owners and city development. Â
"We'll get the utility work done this fall, so we can hopefully start some form of park development next year," said J.J. Yost, the Parks and Recreation Department's planning and facilities manager.
South Haymarket Park and Plaza would be akin in size to Union Plaza, without Antelope Creek cutting through it, Parks and Rec Director Lynn Johnson said last week during a presentation at the site.
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Already, parks officials have identified funding for about half of the $9 million projected cost to build and endow maintenance of the park, and they hope to time work on the park with the construction of the new 235 units in the U-shaped Canopy Park apartment buildings across N Street, Johnson said.
This park would first and foremost serve the growing neighborhood, as the closest park, Cooper Park, is about eight blocks south, Johnson said. And parks officials have launched a public survey aimed at guiding the park's design and amenities.
Among the first park construction priorities once utility lines are moved will be working with The J.A. Woollam Co., a scientific instrument firm at 645 M St., to build parking access off Seventh Street, Johnson said.Â
Soon after, the city could build out the middle section of the park, including a playground and the dog run, estimated at about an acre in size.Â
The early phases would also likely include connecting the Haymarket Trail, N Street Cycle Track and Jamaica North Trail, Yost said.
Work would also shape the land, but some of the park's grade would remain, as environmental restrictions prohibit reworking the ground on the southern half, Johnson said.Â
The final piece of the park would be building the plaza component on the northeast section closest to the Canopy Street corridor, Johnson said.Â
It would likely feature shaded seating and a "significant" piece of public art that aligns visually with the view of "Harvest," the basket-like public sculpture outside Pinnacle Bank Arena, Johnson said.Â
The city would wait to build the plaza until the redevelopment of a parcel just south of the intersection of Seventh and N streets, he said.Â
No redevelopment plans for that lot have been made public yet, but renderings feature a multi-story building with retail on the ground level and a restaurant with a terrace overlooking the park on the building's western edge, Johnson said.Â
At some point, N Street may need some tweaking to accommodate people walking to the park from the north, as the street currently doesn't have a crosswalk across four traffic lanes and the bike lane.
A $1 million donation from the J.A. Woollam Foundation kick-started the park construction campaign, followed by a $200,000 donation from the Kenneth J. Good Fund at the Lincoln Community Foundation. A donor who wished to remain anonymous chipped in another $240,000.Â
The West Haymarket Joint Public Agency will contribute $500,000 to the fundraising campaign, and Johnson said city officials believe tax-increment financing money from the Canopy Park development across the street puts the city at about $4.4 million in secured funding for the park.
"Where's the fire pit, is what I want to know?" Susan Larson Rodenburg, a parks and trails advocate, asked during the presentation.
A community fire pit has been talked about as a possible feature of this park, Yost said.
, will guide planning for the park's amenities, he said.Â
More than 1,200 people have completed the survey, Johnson said.
Desired amenities leading in the survey so far include a shaded seating area, a multi-use lawn, trail connections, a public event space, public restrooms and a unique water feature, said Bobby Bartja of the parks department.
Trailing in the survey was the parks director's beloved bocce courts.Â
"I obviously need to vote," Johnson joked.