Tuscumbia Council gives update on Spring Park

Tuscumbia Council member Krista Stanley had department heads give an update on issues being worked on in Spring Park during the Jan. 5 meeting of the group.

Stanley said many constituents in her district had asked for a progress update, and she said she wanted to get that information out to the public.

Parks and Recreation Director Tammy Holt and Public Works Director Joel Kendrick addressed several issues the city is currently working on.

“This has been a long process,” Holt said. “It happened in a previous administration and has carried over until now. Some things got intertwined during that time and backed it up.”

Stanley said the barbecue restaurant, most recently housing Dude’s BBQ, was damaged in the Feb. 15 tornado that struck the city.

Holt said the building needs masonry work on the chimney, shingles on the roof and siding and trim repair.

Stanley said insurance will cover the repairs on the building.

Kendrick said the city has to get contactors lined up and the project bid out before that project can move forward.

Holt said the playground equipment in the center of the park was 24 years old and falling apart.

“It had a lifetime warranty on it, but it was going to cost us over $7,000 to get the parts in to fix it,” she said. “It was going to take eight to 10 weeks. The decision was made we would look at something new. We got a couple of quotes that do playground equipment. Hopefully we’ll have something in there by early spring.”

Holt said the train is up and running but has yet to be moved to the station as of yet.

A pipe collapsed in an area of the park prone to flooding and has to be removed and replaced, which will require temporarily moving a section of the train track.

“That will be started this week. Hopefully within 60-90 days the train will be running, maybe even less depending on the weather,” Holt said.

Holt said the fountain show is working, but Kendrick said the lighting system has aged out.

“It will take a complete overhaul to get it working like it used to,” he said. “Hopefully we can have the fountain and music going by springtime. I don’t know about the lights yet.”

Holt said the city is looking into some alternative lighting setups that won’t go under the water but would reflect up into the show.

As for the carousel, Holt said the city is working with a company on getting the necessary parts to fix it and getting a quote on the cost of repair.