Oak Creek awards design contract for Evanshine Park beer garden; staff outline phased, lower‑cost plan

The Board of Public Works and Capital Assets approved an $87,200 architectural and engineering design contract with Bridal Inc. for a beer‑garden facility at Evanshine Park on Feb. 11.

Parks staff said the city previously looked at a larger, year‑round facility whose construction estimate reached about $3.2 million in 2022 and that the city paused that plan. Staff described a reduced, seasonal approach using modular units (shipping‑container style) with an estimated construction cost of about $1 million to $1.1 million for a 7–8 unit configuration. “We looked at another opportunity to kind of look at it in a different way and proposal of looking at shipping containers was explored,” said Matt, a parks staff member.

Parks staff told the board Bridal Inc. ranked in the middle of five proposals but stood out for having completed more than 20 similar designs. Staff said Bridal’s proposal included $69,000 for design and $18,220 for bidding, permitting and construction administration, for a total of $87,200. Funding for design will come from park impact fees, and staff said additional sources would be sought for construction. Staff said public works crews would perform much of the site work in‑house, including concrete slabs and seating areas, while the vendor would design the beer‑garden structures.

Staff and board members discussed likely operations: an operator the city has been negotiating with would run the beer garden, which staff said would be open regularly in season (anticipated Wednesday through Saturday) rather than only for special events. Staff said there is not yet a signed operating contract: “We have not signed a contract…Mayor and Andrew are both working on that,” Matt said. The project timeline presented to the board expects design and bidding in 2025 and construction and installation targeted for spring 2026, with a tentative opening in May 2026.

Board members asked about restroom capacity and whether existing facilities could be renovated; staff said they would evaluate renovating park restrooms or, if needed, renting higher‑quality portable restrooms in 2026. Bids for turnkey, fully built units ranged from about $29,800 on the low end (ranked poorly by staff) to roughly $170,000 on the high end; Bridal’s bid was between those figures and was selected for design because of the firm’s experience.

The motion to award the design contract carried on roll call. Parks staff will return with completed design documents and recommendations for bidding and construction administration.