The first phase of Cahaba River Park off Overton Road and River Run Road will bid out sometime this week, said Joel Eliason of Nimrod Long and Associates, the firm heading up the project.
“The bid process generally takes four to six weeks, so we could see some dirt being moved out there by the beginning of May,” Eliason said.
Mountain Brook has been working on plans for the 4.7-acre park since the city bought the land for $250,000 from Brookwood Baptist Church in 2011.
In 2012, the city held meetings with neighbors in the area to get their input on the proposed park.
The Mountain Brook City Council voted to put $450,000 in the city’s capital projects fund to pay for the new park.
The first phase of the park project will include landscaping work and creating walking paths on the property, Eliason said.
“We’ll also do a small parking lot off Overton Road and a little bit of a sidewalk that connects under River Run bridge that will eventually connect to the greenway trail that is being planned,” he said.
The project’s first phase would also include improving an existing path that leads to the water’s edge, Eliason said.
Eliason said the first phase of the park project will also include pouring the foundation for a picnic pavilion that will be built during a later phase.
Once complete, Cahaba River Park will also have a fishing ledge and an outdoor classroom.
“There’s a natural bowl-shaped clearing near the water’s edge that will be a good area for an outdoor classroom,” Eliason said.