The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Bid awarded for M-L park pavilion
Project to include picnic tables, relocated playground equipment
Plans for a new pavilion near Mentor-on-the-Lake City Hall are moving forward.
City Council last week awarded a contract to Ashtabula-based JCI Contractors, Inc. to build the 35-foot by 45-foot structure on part of the tennis courts at City Hall Park, 5860 Andrews Road.
The bid of $107,800 was one of two, and both were well below the $150,000 estimate.
The city received $141,500 in Community Development Block Grant funding toward the project. The design and engineering cost $12,600.
The balance, assuming everything goes as planned will be used for picnic tables and benches, and possibly two grills, city Administrative Director Hollie Bartone said.
“The city’s in-kind commitment includes the removal and disposal of the existing tennis court surface, finish landscape and seeding, as well as the project management,” she said.
Mayor David Eva anticipates that the pavilion will be complete before the fall.
“This project is no cost to our residents,” he said. “This will be a nice addition to the City Hall Park. We already have two baseball fields, a walking path and playground equipment.
“We will be moving the playground equipment up by the pavilion when the pavilion is complete. Both the pavilion and playground equipment will be visible from Andrews Road.”
The playground currently is located behind the service department area.
Council about a year ago authorized applying for the CDBG money to design and install the pavilion.
The federal financial assistance program, administered by the Lake County Federal Grants Office, is intended to improve a community’s housing stock and/ or address urgent community developments, according to legislation passed by council.
The city installed a 1-mile walking path around the perimeter of City Hall Park with the help of CDBG money in 2017. The cost was about $57,000.
Fencing around the tennis courts was removed a couple of years ago, because of the cost to keep the courts in playable condition, Bartone said previously.
“City Hall Park is used heavily throughout the weather-friendly months for baseball, parties, picnics and the playground,” she said. “There is nothing currently offered for the public use within the city other than the small gazebo at Overlook Beach Park.”
The project would help offset the potential loss of a pavilion at Mentor Beach Park — in Mentor-on-theLake but owned by Mentor — which is being marketed for a restaurant.