Glendale workshop advances Murphy Park design, seeks contingency for GMP 4 as part of downtown campus buildout

At a Sept. 23 Glendale City Council workshop, city staff and project consultants presented a detailed design update for Murphy Park and sought council consensus to proceed with GMP 4, the guaranteed maximum price package that will fund the park’s construction. Staff said the park work is being coordinated to finish at approximately the same time as the main civic campus project in April 2026.

The presentation focused on updated site design, furnishings, lighting, donor-plaque relocation, a new event gazebo and accessibility elements, security options and schedule. "We're gonna focus primarily on Murphy Park," said Eddie Garcia, who led the update for city staff. Michael Jacobs of Holly Street Studio summarized the campus goal: "The downtown campus wants to feel like one campus."

Why this matters: Murphy Park sits adjacent to the new civic building core and is part of the larger downtown reinvestment. Changes to the park affect downtown pedestrian character, events programming, maintenance costs and the overall project budget and schedule.

Key decisions and next steps

- Staff requested council consensus to advance GMP 4 (the construction package for Murphy Park) and to include an additional contingency/allowance of up to $800,000 to cover security enhancements and code upgrades identified during final construction-document work. Staff said the final amount included in GMP 4 may be reduced once documents are complete.

- Staff set a permit-and-construction timeline tied to an October permitting window; they said they aim to submit final GMP documents in mid-October so construction can proceed and substantial completion for both the park and main campus can occur in April.

Design highlights raised during the workshop

- Location and form: The proposed gazebo was moved to the park’s northeast corner (a quieter location) and is shown as a roughly 25-foot stage with an 18-inch raised stage and an accessible sloped plane up to it. Council members asked for options that look more traditionally gazebo-like and for guardrails or low gates to improve safety and discourage skateboarding.

- Landscape and trees: Consultants described a landscape palette that keeps the majority of the park as turf with planted edges in decomposed granite. The selected tree palette on the plan includes evergreen elm, Chinese pistache and oak; several council members urged adding or retaining Arizona ash trees and more pistache to secure fall color and historic character.

- Lighting: Consultants proposed a two-tier approach: keep the existing historic perimeter street lights while adding modern programmable RNA poles in the park interior for pathway lighting, colored uplighting for select trees and optional Gobo projectors that can project colored patterns onto walks. The council clarified the perimeter historic lighting will remain and be rewired and relamped with LED bulbs where needed.

- Furnishings and placemaking: Site benches and litter receptacles were selected to match the civic campus materials. Benches will include a center arm to discourage overnight sleeping. Donor plaques will be relocated into six zones on the park loop; the team tested one plaque removal with no damage observed.

Security and code issues

Staff described security features as a scope-and-cost item. "We are dialing in to your point, in the final, construction documents," Garcia said, noting the RNA poles provide locations for cameras and other accessories. Staff also identified code upgrades in the parking garage and other safety items that were not in the original scope; these contributed to the requested contingency.

Budget and project totals

- City staff said the Murphy Park project was included in the June-approved scheme with a construction-side budget that increased to $4.9 million; when combined with soft costs the approved June project figure for Murphy Park was described as $6.2 million.

- Staff indicated the overall civic campus project had been trending around $96 million at GMP 3; adding the June-approved Murphy Park scope put a combined figure near $97.09 million. Staff proposed up to $800,000 be held as an additional contingency in GMP 4 to address the security and code items, which staff said would raise the total project forecast to about $98.7 million if fully applied to GMP 4.

Council feedback and concerns

Council members requested more design options for the gazebo (including more traditional forms, railings and gates), asked that the design avoid blocking sidewalks or ADA access during events, and advocated keeping or planting tree species that provide fall color and historic ties to the downtown. Several members supported incorporating programmable colored lighting for events and seasonal theming.

Formal action

This was a council workshop (no action was taken). Staff reported "consensus" on the direction to proceed and said they will bring the detailed GMP 4 package and final cost items forward through the formal procurement and permitting process.

What comes next

Staff will finalize construction documents and return to the formal agenda process for GMP approval. The team said it aims to submit permits and GMP documents in October and begin park construction to target substantial completion in April, timed to align with substantial completion of the civic building.