JEFFERSONVILLE — Soaring progress is happening at Big Four Station, the park at the foot of the pedestrian and cyclist bridge that will host portions of this year’s Steamboat Days Festival.
Construction workers for Wycliffe Enterprises Inc. installed four tall towering structures on site Tuesday. One of the towers is a 54-foot-tall light chard standing in the middle of a future reflecting pool.
The other three lit towers will line the water feature that leads to the pool on the south side of the park. The line between two colors of glass wrapped around steel frames will mark the high water mark of the 1937 flood.
“It’s going to be a great component to the city of Jeffersonville,” said Todd Waldrip, project manager with Wycliffe.
The waterfall feature will have nine lit tiers like stair steps that carry water into a basin surrounded by concrete. The top of the structure is 39 feet wide, slimming in width like a funnel as the tiers reach the bottom.
Waldrip said the water feature is the next big piece that crew will soon be installing.
“We’re on track to finish,” he said, though he wouldn’t confirm a previously estimated Oct. 1 completion date. The park must be finished before Steamboat Days Festival, which begins Oct. 17.
Jeffersonville Redevelopment Director Rob Waiz said they will be finished the first part of October.
“It’s not really a set date,” he said of the Oct. 1 projected opening.
Big Four Station has a pavilion and will have restrooms and a plaza when finished, Waldrip said. There will also be about 80 parking spots around the perimeter of the park along Market and Mulberry streets.
“It’s going to have a little bit of everything,” he said.
Construction on the park began a year ago, but the plan has been in the works for longer.
Waiz said that he’s excited about the park’s progress.
“It’s going to be a fantastic project,” he said. “As people go by there each day, they can see quite a few things getting done.”
Pearl Street resident Jerry Griffith has been watching the progress from her front porch for the past year.
“They’re going pretty fast,” she said. “I’m surprised.”
However, she said she was concerned about safety for pedestrians, some of whom wander through construction zones.
“These [construction workers] have a deadline and they’re trying to get everything done but everyone is getting in the way,” she said.
She said she would like to see Jeffersonville do more to prevent dangerous situations, such as putting up signs.
Waiz said that the city addressed some concerns by swapping fences around the zone to something sturdier.
“You would think most people would realize it is a construction zone, but they still want to get in the middle of it,” he said. “Other than that, there’s not much you can do other than standing guard 24/7.”
Griffith said she still believes the project is worthwhile, despite “living through the dirt” from construction for the past several months.
Waiz said he’s excited to see the faces of people who come from the Big Four Bridge and view the completed park for the first time.
“We’re doing a first class job on this park,” he said.
Several restaurants have opened downtown in the last few years, and Waiz said Big Four Station only aids in attracting more business.
“It’s much more than a park,” he said. “It’s actually an economic engine that helps for our downtown.”