News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council will consider a bid Thursday night to add a new entrance to Dogwood Park and new bathrooms to the adjacent Performing Arts Center.
Leisure Services Director Rick Woods said the entrance will be a landscaped walkway coming from Walnut Avenue to the west of the park. Woods said there will also be major changes to the parking lot and traffic flow behind the performing arts center.
“People come to the events in Dogwood Park and enter from the west side,” Woods said. “And it’s a little bit confusing: where do I go, how do I get there from the parking lot, where do I enter, how do I get into the performance pavilion area. And this will help make that clear.”
Woods said the total cost for the work is just under $1.5 million. Woods said the whole project should take about nine months to complete once the city signs a contract with the bidder.
“Those were within our expectation, a little less than what we had earmarked in our budget,” Woods said. “So we’re excited about that, happy about that.”
Woods said the center will remain open while the work is underway. Woods said it will be complicated and difficult to operate as the center will be without parking for a while.
“People will need to park across Walnut in the public parking area,” Woods said. “Not the private parking area but the public parking area across Walnut Avenue, and find other places to park in the downtown corridor and maybe walk a little bit to be able to get to the performing arts center and to events at Dogwood Park.”
Woods said the women’s restroom at the performing arts center will be renovated and expanded so it is up to code. Woods said the men’s restroom will be renovated as well. Both rooms are original portions of the building that date back to when the center opened in the 1970s.
“It’s all going to be worth it in the long run because it’s going to be a huge, huge improvement and a very nice addition to our offerings here,” Woods said.
