Boyle County advances park projects: Parsons awarded bike-park work; skate park and playground upgrades planned

The Boyle County Fiscal Court and county staff on Aug. 12 moved forward on a string of parks-and-recreation projects aimed at expanding outdoor recreation and supporting local economic development.

The court approved the committee’s recommendation to award the Alum Springs Mountain Bike Park design-build contract to Parsons Construction (lowest bid at $1,025,000). County officials said the design-build approach removes the middleman and allows construction to begin more directly once mobilization and contract documents are executed. The committee noted a required 10% upfront mobilization payment.

County staff and committee members reviewed multiple related capital projects: three baseball/softball-field rehabs ($150,000 total, county paying half), in-house repairs and security upgrades at Millennium Park (site furnishings $50,000; door and magnetic-lock improvements), and a playground surface upgrade at Millennium Park (city $100,000, county ~$5,000 contribution noted). Officials described these projects as economic-development investments intended to attract tournaments and visitors to Danville and Boyle County.

A multi-year plan for the skate park was discussed at length. Staff presented vendor examples and cost ranges from firms that build concrete skate parks (examples ranged from roughly $300,000 to more than $800,000 depending on size and features). County leaders said the county has budgeted $400,000 as an initial contribution but expects the skate-park project to span multiple years and to seek additional funding from the city and other sources.

Staff indicated RFPs and procurement steps will be issued quickly to secure vendors, noting many specialized skate-park contractors are booked at least a year in advance. County administrators said they will present more detailed RFPs and design documents to the court and to city partners before final construction contracts are executed.