Margaret T. Hance Park will return to normal by the end of the year as the Arizona Department of Transportation’s $1.86 million project to fix its drainage system continues into its second phase.
The project, which ADOT began in June, has disrupted precious areas and upset the park’s scenic landscape with construction over the past four months.
“When will our park be back to normal?” said District 7 Councilman Michael Nowakowski at Wednesday’s Parks, Arts, Transparency and Education Subcommittee meeting.
The project’s intention is to minimize leakage from the park into the Deck Park Tunnel on Interstate 10 below. ADOT, in conjunction with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, has been planning since 2013 to fix this leakage problem so as not to do any further damage.
Inger Erickson, acting director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said the two-phase project is going as planned.
Phase one, which began June 1 and ended Sept. 4, included work on the areas of the park west of Central Avenue.
Trees were torn out and ground unearthed in order to replace the troublesome pipes below. A waterproof barrier system was added to prevent future damage to the I-10. Now that the pipes have been replaced, these areas will be subject to overseeding and restoration through November in accordance with the plan.
The Japanese Friendship Garden reopened on Oct. 1 after its restoration was completed in August, a process that required a temporary irrigation system and the hands-on expertise of the city arborist. All trees within the garden affected during phase one have survived.
“We still have some greening to do,” Erickson said, adding that she is “very pleased with the results” of phase one.
ADOT expects to complete the second phase by December, Erickson said.
Originally set to finish in October, the second phase includes areas in the park east of Central Avenue, including the Burton Barr Library loading dock and employee parking area and the Phoenix Center for the Arts main entrance.
Grace Lutheran Church has an agreement with the Parks and Recreation Department to compensate for the lack of parking at the Center for the Arts by allowing visitors to use the church parking lot in the interim.
ADOT is nearing completion of Burton Barr Library’s loading dock and expects to finish the rest of construction on time.
Phoenix residents can expect to see improvement in the attractiveness of the west side of the park throughout November. The goal is to make the park look as it did before the construction. Landscaping and restoration of the east side is expected to begin in November.
Contact the reporter at smcrowe@asu.edu.
