Park project ready to go out for bids

Loretta George/Tribune photo The area slated to become the Riverfront Park is closer to being developed with walking tails and other features

After years of envisioning, planning, seeking permits and funding, the northern gateway to Fort Scott is about to come to fruition.

The plans call for a bicycle/pedestrian trail, a canoe launch, an RV area, an event pavilion, a playground and historical points of interest to support Fort Scott National Historic Site's educational program.

Riverfront Park, which will be located where the Marmaton River and Mill Creek meet, is ready to have bids to be let after the first of the year. All of the contracts necessary for the construction for the loop road must be entered into or awarded on, or before, October 2014," said Arnold Schofield, member of the Riverfront Authority board.

Dave Martin, Fort Scott city administrator, told the weekly Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce crowd on Thursday that he spent Wednesday with the Kansas Department of Transportation.

"The Riverfront Authority will be letting (bids) after the first of the year," Martin said.

The board anticipates the construction will start as soon as contracts have been awarded, in 2014.

"It's anticipated that the trail north of the Marmaton River will be completed before the end of 2014," Schofield said.

There are two separate grants that are funding the park, one deals with the loop road, which is a circular road between the Marmaton River and Mill Creek and one deals with trail north of the Marmaton River that traverses under Hwy. 69, just to the east.

"All the permits have been completed,"Jerry Witt, member of the Riverfront Authority board said.

The number of entities involved in the project is one of the reasons for the length of time the project is taking. Those entities are Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas State Historical Preservation Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Kansas Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, along with the property negotiations for areas in the proposed park, according to an earlier Tribune story.

The most recent piece of the project was an archeological study on the north trail done by Jim Feagins, a professional archeologist, a few months ago, Witt said.

The mission of the Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority is to create a sustainable revitalization and promote preservation, protection, and interpretation of the Marmaton River for the enjoyment and education of current and future generations of visitors and citizens of Fort Scott, Bourbon County and the State of Kansas, according to its website.

The Riverfront Authority came into being after the creation of the Fort Scott Visioning Committee. In 2005 the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fort Scott established the Visioning Committee to explore opportunities to improve quality of life in Fort Scott. Public meetings were held where citizens, working in teams, were given the opportunity to suggest improvement ideas. From the dozens of ideas compiled, a team of citizens selected the top five ideas to be implemented. A pair of co-conveners were chosen for each of the five ideas. Each pair of co-conveners formed their team. The Developing the River as an Asset was one of those five teams, according to the website.

The Developing the River as an Asset team had its first meeting in April 2006. The team developed a conceptual plan for improvements to the area along the river just north of downtown Fort Scott. In January 2007 the team decided that the establishment of a riverfront authority would enhance public funding opportunities for the project. In February 2007 Senate Bill 321 was introduced into the Kansas Legislature to create the Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority. The bill was passed and signed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on April 27, 2007.

The structure of the board of directors for the Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority is defined in Kansas Senate Bill 321. It requires six directors, with half appointed by Bourbon County and half by the City of Fort Scott. Directors are asked to serve three-year terms. Current board members are Dean Mann, Bob Love, Mike Lakeman, Jerry Witt, Arnold Schofield and Jeff Sweetser.

The Riverfront Authority meets at 5:15 p.m. the third Monday each month in the Gordon Parks Center meeting room at Fort Scott Community College located at 2108 S. Horton St. All the meetings are open to the public.