Park project progresses as amphitheater takes shape

Phase 2 of the Constitution Park (former name) Project at Armory Park is coming along well, seeing big gains in recent weeks, general contractor Pete Baxendale of Midway Construction and Dirt Work reported this week.

Phase 2 includes a new walking path along the perimeter of Armory Park, the renovation of the softball field including new fencing and dugouts, new lighting for the walking path, a new amphitheater and a new irrigation system for the eastern section of the park surrounding the amphitheater.

The softball field is “95 percent complete,” Baxendale said Tuesday, including the new fence and new dugouts. The dugout roofs should be installed this week, he said.

Preparation work in the form of a gravel base has been completed for the walking path, and asphalt paving is scheduled to begin on September 12, Baxendale said.

The lighting will be installed later, as will the irrigation system, but irrigation sleeves have been put in place under the walking path, Baxendale noted.

The current focus is on the construction of the amphitheater, a long-awaited addition to the park. The facility has received a size upgrade after Baxendale and Lovell Town Administrator Jed Nebel put their heads together to recommend a larger stage.

“When we started laying the amphitheater out, I didn’t want it to look like an afterthought, and I felt it needed to be larger. Once you get a full-sized band coming, the original design didn’t have enough room,” Baxendale said, adding that the specifications included an arbitrary number from the design/build documents.

“We realized it was too small, and we ended up about doubling it.”

The former specs were for roughly a 400-square-foot facility, and the current plans call for a 775-square-foot amphitheater that is 36 feet wide in front, 26 feet wide in back, with 24-foot sides.

The amphitheater will have an I-beam design with wood inlay and is going to look “really, really nice, really sharp,” Baxendale said.

A visit to the park shows the amphitheater taking shape, with the footings and foundation complete, backfilled with gravel. The Midway crew was busy Tuesday laying down rebar for the concrete floor. Baxendale said he would like to see a stamped concrete floor with a black stain to make the facility jump out, adding, “This could be the focal point of this part of the park.”

He said he would need to clear his idea with the Town of Lovell.

The larger amphitheater was facilitated by Baxendale’s offer to donate the extra labor if the town could cover the materials necessary to make it larger. The Lovell Town Council passed a change order at the August 13 council meeting providing for the larger facility at a cost of $9,500, with Nebel noting at the meeting that other aspects of the project came in under budget, allowing the change order to be done under the original budget.

“Jed does a great job,” Baxendale said. “I think Jed is an asset to this town.”