BRIDGEWATER - This town will officially reopen the King Street Court park this fall.

 Ceremonies will take place October 2 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the town announced last week.

 "We hope we'll have a huge crowd downtown because we're closing [King Street] from Dominion Street to Empire Street," Mayor Carroll Publicover said.

 There will be live entertainment and prize draws and face painting for the kids, the mayor said. A committee is working on the day's program.

 "It's going to be a fun day," he said.

 The town-owned park has undergone an extensive renovation over the last several months. It's been closed to the public during much of that time.

 The project is a step in a multi-year program led by Bridgewater's arm's-length economic development promoter, to beautify the LaHave River waterfront within town limits.

 The project includes the removable fountain installed between the old and new bridges that's been spraying water off and on since about Canada Day.

 A number of tenders were issued after an attempt to grant a huge chunk of the work in one single tender proved too expensive to award in one shot.

 Jobs were eventually awarded, for example, to supply and install the fountain (cost, $69,000). There were also tender awards for park furnishings ($15,000), interpretative panels ($44,000), light fixtures, surfacing, floating dock and gangway system ($66,000), concrete stairs, deck and lifting mechanism ($46,000) and fountain electrical supply ($31,000).

 All three levels of government have committed money toward the overall riverfront project.

advertisement

posted on 08/10/10