Sauk Rapids Council Approves Creating Designs for Park Project

SAUK RAPIDS -- A plan to bring some new amenities to the parks along the river in Sauk Rapids has taken another step forward. Monday night the city council voted to approve the Riverfront Park Master Plan and move into the design stage.

Mayor Kurt Hunstiger says this step allows the city to know how much the project will cost.

I think the biggest thing for us will be to see the cost, and exactly what we can get for our money.  That's the biggest thing, we have all these features we want and we want to make sure we can afford it.

Hunstiger says they've told the consultants they have a budget between $3 million and $5 million.

Once we get the cost from the designs then we make some final decisions on what features we want for sure and where we want to build.  If we can't afford all of them, which ones do we want to do.

The enhancements to Lions Park and the Southside Park include a terraced outdoor classroom, a building, river access for kayaks and canoes, an interactive splash pad, along with other features.

This step only allows for the design of the project, a final vote for construction would come at a future meeting.

Money from the half-cent sales tax would be used to pay for the project.