County officials are gearing up to start construction on a long-awaited overhaul of Ballston’s Mosaic Park.
The County Board is set to approve a construction contract of just over $6 million for the project this weekend, ending years of debate over the project.
The county has hoped for years now to spruce up the park, located at 538 N. Pollard Street, just behind the Gold’s Gym parking lot. Officials started planning work as early as 2008, but some cost overruns prompted a series of delays for the construction.
But the project began to gain steam again last spring, after officials decided to scale it back in scope a bit to rein in costs. The county was also delayed because the developer of Ballston Quarter was using Mosaic Park as a staging area to assemble the new pedestrian bridge stretching over Wilson Blvd — workers installed the structure last weekend.
The park is now set to see a new playground, athletic court and water feature installed as part of the renovation work. Gone, however, are plans for solar panels at the site that would’ve powered the park’s lights and some additional landscaping around the park.
The Shooshan Company, which owns some nearby developments, agreed to fund the first phase of the roughly $6.6 million project. The county is also hoping to add a basketball half-court to the site, but that work will come in a second phase of the project, set to move in tandem with the “future redevelopment of the adjacent commercial property,” according to a county staff report.
The Board will consider the project as part of its consent agenda tomorrow (Saturday), which is generally reserved for noncontroversial items passed without debate. If all goes as planned, the renovations will be wrapped up by the end of the year.