St. Joseph City Commissioners have approved a new plan for improvements to Whirlpool Centennial Park after the initial plan proved to be too expensive.

Speaking to commissioners this past week, Public Works Director Greg Grothous said when bids came in for the original project plan, dating back to 2021, they greatly exceeded the expected $700,000 cost.

“Unfortunately, the project when first bid out came in substantially over what we had estimated at $1.7 million,” Grothous said. “As a result, we went through a pretty significant redesign after talking with contractors, shaved quite a bit of cost out of the project.”

Grothous said after a couple of years of adjustments, amendments, and rebids, a new project plan costing about $734,000 has been developed.

“We reduced some things. We reduced the number of shade structures, we reduced the number of foot wash stations. In the grand scheme, those were small amounts, but it all started to add up and get us to a much better place.”

The new plan also drops a green roof for the restrooms and a concrete seat wall.

The new Whirlpool Centennial Park project calls for a smaller restroom building, an access path, new signage, a trail, foot wash stations, and shade structures.

Grothous said the project has secured a $345,000 grant from the DNR Land and Water Conservation Fund, plus a $100,000 donation from the St. Joseph Community Parks Foundation. That makes the cost to the city $289,000. He noted that when he was redrawing the plans, he had to do so in a way that wouldn’t jeopardize the grant funding.

Commissioners approved the newly revised plan, and work could start after Labor Day.