Nearly a year and a half after voters approved a $64.3 million bond measure to fund the first major upgrades of Riverfront Park since it was constructed for Expo ’74, the first projects to be funded under the measure are set to go to bid this spring.

Projects that likely will break ground this year include the $5.9 million Howard Street south bridge replacement, the $4.3 million recreational rink and skyride, and perhaps the initial phase of the $5 million-plus Looff Carousel facility project, says Leroy Eadie, parks department director.

Other major components of the planned park improvements are in various design stages.

“This year, construction will be focused on the southwest corner of the park,” Eadie says.

Next year, work will concentrate on completing the new facility for the historic Looff Carousel between Spokane Falls Boulevard and the south channel of the Spokane River.

Projects on Havermale Island will begin in 2018, and most of the project work on Canada Island and the park’s north bank section will be constructed in 2019, Eadie says.

Parks department spokeswoman Monique Cotton says the department will host an open house Feb. 17 at which three design concerns will display their visions for park improvements. The open house will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the council chambers, in the basement of Spokane City Hall.

Edmonton, Alberta-based Stantec Inc., which has a Spokane office, will show its vision for the recreational ice rink and skyride facility.

Berger Partnership PS, of Seattle, will show proposed landscape designs, including designs for the Howard Street south bridge and the theme stream in the west central area of the 100-acre park.

The city is finalizing a contract with Spokane-based NAC|Architecture to design the new Looff Carousel Building. NAC also is expected to be on hand at the meeting to share its vision for the carousel facility project.

The ice rink and skyride facility project will go to bid this spring, Eadie says.

Stantec’s design for the recreational rink includes a “ribbon” feature to enable skaters to glide on winding path through a portion of the park’s landscape, Cotton says.

“There’s only a handful of them in the country,” she says of the ribbon concept.

Eadie says the support and operations building for the recreation rink also will support ticketing for the skyride. The ride itself won’t have major improvements as part of the project, he says.

The Howard Street south bridge project also is scheduled to go to bid this spring, with work likely will begin in midsummer, Eadie says. 

Designs for the bridge include side decks to enable visitors to step down from the main pedestrian lane for closer views of the river.

Eadie says Howard Street spans the middle of the park and has three bridges over different channels of the river. The bridges accommodate foot traffic and park maintenance vehicles, not general car-and-truck traffic. 

The Berger design proposes that Howard Street be enhanced as the main promenade to bring people to the center of the park.

The parks department and the utilities division are forming an interdepartmental agreement in which utilities would head up the replacement of the Howard Street midchannel bridge, also known as the Blue Bridge, Eadie says.

Marline Feist, utilities department spokeswoman, says design work hasn’t started yet for the Blue Bridge replacement project, so construction won’t begin this year.

“My bet is it won’t be built before 2017, and it could be in 2018,” Feist says.

Most of the Blue Bridge replacement cost would be funded through the utility department’s budget, although promenade amenities would be funded with park bond dollars, she says.

The carousel project will have two construction phases. The first phase will include removal of the carousel and demolition of the current facility. The second phase will include construction of a new facility and installation of the carousel within it.

The carousel project will go to bid late this year or early next, and it might be bid in multiple packages, Eadie says. “We might even remove the carousel internally to protect the horses,” he says.

Construction on Havermale Island projects in the center of the park will begin in 2018. They will include the new $24 million centerpiece U.S. Pavilion event center, a central plaza conservation area, playground improvements, gardens, and surface parking improvements.

Projects queued up to begin in 2019 include a viewing terrace on Canada Island, a regional playground on the north bank, a new north gateway, and a north bank event center.

Tree-lined pedestrian walkways, rentable shelters, four new grass meadows, multiple playgrounds, theme-stream improvements and artwork will be among $20 million in park-ground improvements planned throughout Riverfront Park.

Cotton says the bond funds won’t cover the entire 20-year vision of the 2014 master plan, which outlines $100 million in proposed park improvements.

The parks department will launch a feasibility study in February or March for a capital fund drive to leverage tax dollars with grants and donations to fulfill the master plan, she says.