Work has started on the $4.7 million demolition and rebuild of the Howard Street Bridge in downtown Spokane’s Riverfront Park.

The city selected Athol, Idaho-based LaRiviere Equipment & Excavation Inc. as the general contractor for the project.

Meanwhile, the city at the beginning of November began soliciting bids for construction of an ice-skating ribbon and upgrades to the Skyride facility and ticket office. The bidding closes Dec. 5, and the low bidder is expected to be selected within the week after, says Fianna Dickson, communications manager for the parks department.

Garrett Jones, Spokane parks planning and development manager, says LaRiviere submitted a bid of $4.7 million to rebuild the bridge, which will be called the Howard Street South Channel Bridge. The new bridge, which will be located in the same spot as the original structure, will enable pedestrians to walk just above the surface of the Spokane River.

The bid also includes construction of a temporary access road through the park for heavy-duty construction vehicles. A total of six general contractors submitted bids to the city, which made its selection of LaRiviere in August, Jones says.

In November 2014, Spokane voters approved a $64.3 million bond measure that will provide funding for an overhaul of the aging park. Riverfront Park, which hasn’t seen major improvements since it was constructed for the environmentally themed Expo ’74 world’s fair, attracts between 2 million and 2.5 million visitors per year, say city statistics.

The Spokane office of the engineering firm CH2M drafted a design calling for the complete demolition and rebuild of the Howard Street bridge.

Separately, site preparation is finished for the the ice ribbon and Skyride upgrades, and required geoengineering and archaeology work also has been completed. However, construction there was pushed back two months. The original timeline would’ve had the rink open next summer, but that now has been delayed to fall.

The ice rink, called an ice ribbon because of its design, and accompanying skating pond will be located in the grassy area south of the Skyride facility. The ribbon is slated to be 650 feet long and 16 feet wide with slight increases and decreases in elevation, according to the master plan.

Edmonton, Alberta-based Stantec Inc., a design and consulting company with offices in Spokane, designed the ice ribbon as well as upgrades to the Skyride facility and ticket office.