Aurora's RiverEdge Park contracts meet grant goals
Construction of Aurora's RiverEdge Park is far from complete, but contracts awarded for the project already have met the goals of granters whose money is helping make the park a reality.
Pending city council approval of the third package of bids for the park, $5.8 million in contracts will be given to Fox Valley-area companies, $914,788 to minority-owned businesses and $409,000 to women-owned businesses, said Stephane Phifer, Aurora's planning and zoning director.
Those amounts all surpass grant standards, which required about $400,000 go to both minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses and $4 million be awarded to companies based in the Fox Valley area.
With several more contracts to be awarded in at least one more phase of bids in the spring, Phifer said she expects contract totals to the specific types of companies to further exceed grant guidelines.
The group of bids set for a council vote Tuesday, Oct. 25 costs $266,964 and includes two types of concrete for the park's music venue building as well as architectural fabrics and aluminum and glazing for the building.
If council approves the bids, $266,964 will become the guaranteed maximum price charged by the project's construction management firm R.C. Wegman Construction Co. for the work. Approval would bring the total spent so far on the park to almost $11 million.
Work at the site on North Broadway Avenue kicked off in July and has not been significantly delayed by a few recent rainy days, Phifer said.
“We are moving forward on-track,” she said. “We are now putting in the utilities.”
Once the park is complete, it will feature a music garden with a stage, a seating lawn and a market area as well as a pedestrian bridge across the Fox River and open land on the east and west banks.