Englewood Bond team: council approved several design contracts, Cushing Park construction to start as schedule adjusts

Gina Oberging, project manager for the Parks and Rec Bond, said Englewood City Council on May 19 approved design contracts for Miller Field, Pirates Cove and the Englewood Recreation Center and authorized construction to begin at Cushing Park, and staff have a construction contract with Elite Industries for work on bond projects.

The approvals came as the bond program team kicked off multiple design contracts and prepared community engagement. "We got approval for our design contracts for Miller Field, Pirates Cove, and the Rec Center," Oberging said. She added construction at Cushing Park is scheduled to begin in June but noted availability of playground equipment could push installation and some construction work to August.

Why it matters: the bond program covers multiple parks and facilities across the city and carries a citywide budget and timeline that staff said requires coordination across departments, contractor schedules and community input. Oberging described the program as a significant multi-site effort with a total bond value of $41,500,000.

What staff described - Contracts and contractors: Oberging said design work for Pirates Cove will involve BHA, the Englewood Recreation Center design will be with OLC, and Elite Industries holds a construction contract for bond work; staff noted Elite is finishing work at Bates Logan Park. Staff did not provide vote tallies or mover/second details for council approvals in the meeting transcript.

- Projects cleared by council and next steps: Cushing Park is slated to start construction this summer; staff said the Cushing work could run through the end of 2025. Emerson and Rotolo were described as "shovel ready" with construction expected to begin in July, while other projects will move through design iterations and community review over the coming months.

- Projects not requiring council approval: staff identified a set of projects that were under council procurement thresholds and therefore did not require council action: Bard, Bellevue, Clarkson Amherst, Emerson, Miller, Northwest Greenbelt and Rotolo. Staff said they still are sharing information on those projects for transparency.

- Community engagement and online information: the team plans community surveys and outreach at neighborhood nights and other events, and will publish project pages on the city's Renew and Recreate landing site (friendly URL: englewoodco.gov/renew-recreate). "We are gonna be driving traffic to this page," Oberging said, and Amanda (site lead) and staff will keep it updated as projects move forward.

- Council interest in oversight: staff reported a council member (Council member Russell) asked about greater council involvement in contract approvals even when contracts fall below procurement thresholds. Staff discussed options including one-on-one briefings, a legal memo or a recurring study session. Trini and legal staff will coordinate on how to share contract information. The team discussed tradeoffs: frequent item-by-item briefings could consume substantial staff and council time, while written reports might be missed.

Operational details and constraints Staff repeatedly emphasized coordination needs across city departments (public works, utilities and recreation programming) and external authorities. For example, staff said Arapahoe County Public Health rules affect the pool schedule during rec center work: if locker rooms/showers are closed, the pool cannot open under county rules. Staff warned of equipment lead times—playground equipment was cited as having as much as a two-month lead time—which can affect construction start dates.

Next steps Staff said design kickoff meetings are underway for multiple parks, project pages for Cushing, Emerson and Rotolo are already live, and community engagement will continue as designs advance. The team expects to reconvene in June.