By late September, there will be new asphalt, a bicycle path, a colored walkway and new light poles in the Hitching Post parking lot in downtown Oregon. A newly designed entrance to Oregon Village Hall will be completed, along with a new parking lot behind the building, next to Waterman Triangle Park. The overhead power lines in front of Oregon Bowl will be buried underground and new period lighting, consistent with what was installed last summer throughout the downtown, will be in place. And Brook Street will be repaved and have new curb, gutter and sidewalk.
Those will be the most visible changes resulting from the second phase of Oregon's downtown construction project, which is costing in the neighborhood of $675,000. (The money is coming from funds the village borrowed last summer.)
But there will also be big improvements below the surface, including a new water main and storm sewer in Hitching Park and along Brook Street. There will also be new storm sewer below the Village Hall parking lot and beneath the alley connecting the parking lot with the Hitching Park.
James Bongard, project manager for MSA Professional Services Inc., the engineering firm that is overseeing the Phase 2 construction, said the work is going well, and it's also benefitting local businesses.
"The contractors, the Mandt Brothers, have been working diligently and they've been using a lot of local suppliers to help the local economy," Bongard said.
The main entrance to Village Hall is being rebuilt and will not be accessible until sometime in early September, although a couple of secondary entrance ways remain open.
Bongard reported that the underground work at the Hitching Post has been finished and soon - possibly later this week - a first layer of asphalt will be down.
"Last week we finished up the water main and started working on the grading for the curb and gutter in Hitching Post," he said. "We also tore up the entrance to Village Hall, so there's now a big hole in front of Village Hall. We're working on pouring the walls and stairs for that."
Public Works director Mark Below said the Brook Street project is "moving along."
"They're on the sewer main now; that will take probably a week or two," Below said. "Then they'll start moving toward curb and gutter and sidewalk replacement."
He said all the Phase 2 work will be completed by late September, and village residents will see new signage, benches, a kiosk and period lighting throughout the downtown.
