County awards $1.28 million base-bid for Gage Park Playland Bridal Trail; officials cite tree removals and accessibility tradeoffs

SHAWNEE COUNTY, Kan. — The Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 23 authorized the award of contract C24-2025 to RCI Adventure Products for the Gage Park Playland Bridal Trail, with the agenda listing a base bid of $1,280,000 funded through Gage Park Improvement Authority funds.

Tim Laurent, director of Shawnee County Parks and Recreation, told commissioners the item is a follow-up phase of Playland improvements. He said the county received three bids but recommended RCI because the lowest bidder failed to provide a layout and the requested RFP information; RCI provided the plan details the county requested.

“We did go out for bid on this project and we had three vendors that supplied bids,” Laurent said. “RCI was not the cheapest… the cheapest company did not provide a layout, did not really provide the information that we asked for in the RFP.”

Laurent outlined two construction details commissioners discussed: selective tree removal and accessibility. He said some trees already were removed and those removals were focused on trees in poor condition. He also said a major element of the Bridal Trail reaches about 15 feet above grade, and making that element fully accessible would more than double the project cost. Parks staff therefore planned to provide accessible play components at the start of the new area and an accessible toddler area nearby, while the elevated element itself will not be fully accessible.

“This has been a pretty lengthy process and I would say we spent probably the last six months trying to make it accessible… to get folks up there was the trick,” Laurent said. “We found that we were going to more than double the cost of this project to be able to do that.”

Laurent said the base bid includes a five-year limited warranty and that the manufacturer will perform annual inspections. He described the installation plan as largely off-site fabrication, with the contractor bringing large sections to assemble; footings for the towers will require a separate project and are not included in the base bid.

Commissioners approved the award by voice vote, 3-0. Laurent said other ordered equipment already will begin arriving in February with assembly targeted for mid-March where possible, and that the county hopes to begin site work this summer and complete the project this year.

Why it matters: The Bridal Trail is a major play-structure investment at a county park. The county’s decision balances accessibility goals, safety inspections and budget constraints; the county will add accessible components in proximity but not to the elevated element due to cost.

What’s next: Parks staff said they will return with footing/installation-related projects not included in the base bid and will coordinate staging and tree-impacts as construction progresses.