The Riverside City Council is looking to begin improvement efforts on Railroad Park soon with the approval of a construction contract during their recent meeting. 

The council approved the contract with All-American Concrete of West Liberty after awarding them with the bid in December 2021. The bid was $525,641, around $15,000 below the engineer’s estimate. New amenities coming to the park include a soft-fall material on the playgrounds, updates to playground equipment, additional parking along River and Hickory streets, a six-foot wide perimeter path and mile markers along the path. Ground has already been broken for the project as tree removal for the project has been completed. City Clerk Becky LaRoche says that the start date for construction is dependent upon the weather but they hope to start up around the beginning of March. A late start date was set for April 15th with the hopes of finishing the project before the start of Trekfest in June. If the project is not completed by that time, construction will clear the area for the event and the project will be completed by August 18th.