A great success story for both BG Consultants and the City of Hutchinson, the Avenue A Park began as a bridge improvement project. The City needed to replace a series of structurally deficient bridges that ran beneath Avenue A. BG conducted a feasibility study and found that we could do much more—and save the City money in the process.

Rather than repair the underground structure, which would have required closing Avenue A for significant periods of time, BG engineers made plans to relocate the channel and make it open, instead of underground. Plans included the construction of an elevated twin-bridge with 12-foot sidewalks on Main Street and multiple reinforced concrete box bridges over the channel. Adding park amenities made the project eligible for KDOT funding. Overall, the project cost the City significantly less than replacing the original underground bridge structures.

Major coordination was needed between BG Consultants and city staff, local organizations, business owners, and the public to ensure the park would best serve the City. Everyone’s voice and vote were heard when choosing the park amenities. In conjunction with landscape architects, Rice Foster Associates, the park was designed to include a water play area, a public stage/gazebo, a walkway along the relocated channel, a footbridge across the channel, a visitor’s center with public restrooms and parking, and a pocket park featuring a limestone sculpted grasshopper.

The park, completed in 1997, remains a great attraction for Hutchinson’s downtown area. Its successes spawned other projects in the area, including a streetscape project to further enhance attraction to the downtown area and stimulate the local economy.