Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Historic Preservation Commission, or HPC, approved multiple upcoming renovations for Spillway Park in downtown Prattville.
The park will have additional parking for downtown, a walking path along 4th street with a green space and a boardwalk along the Autauga Creek, an outdoor pavilion venue with public restrooms and renovations to the warehouse are all in the works for Spillway Park.
Prattville Parks and Recreation Director Kellie Cook confirmed that the bid process will start in a few months. However, construction will not start until about January of next year. This is to ensure that the Parade of Pumpkins and the Prattville Christmas season goes uninterrupted, Cook stated.
Once construction is underway, Cook confirmed it should be about a nine-month process until the park is fully complete.
“We are super excited about this project and the opportunities it will bring downtown where the majority of our biggest events take place,” Cook said.
Chris McNeil with Chambless King Architects has also taken on this project for the City of Prattville. McNeil and Chambless King Architects are also working on the renovations project for the Picker House which was also approved in this meeting. Chambless King Architects are also behind the restoration of The Mill at Prattville and many other historical buildings in the state.
“We’re truly honored and excited for this project as well. We’ve worked with the City of Prattville on many projects and are excited from the discussions we’ve had and what we anticipate this space to be,” McNeil said.
Currently, the design for the parking lot would create 64 additional parking spaces for the newly renovated Spillway Park. However, during the public hearing portion of the meeting, one concerned citizen asked where all these park goers and people dining at The Picker House will be parking.
Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie was awarded a point of privilege and confirmed that himself, the City of Prattville, Autauga County Commission and the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce are working together to find a solution.
Gillespie confirmed that they are looking at some of the grassy area behind the Chamber of Commerce building where there are talks of a lease with the county and the city which would add approximately 50 parking spots. Nothing is set in stone just yet, but it is, however, in the works.
The park plans to try and incorporate the salvaged 300 or so bricks that were recovered from the Picker House after the fire in 2002, to make a historical wall like structure. This is to pay tribute to the rich history on which the park resides.
“We will be utilizing them (the bricks), and the thought behind it is to construct the wall it in a way where it hopefully, if we can get the information, will be exactly where one of the buildings was and be able to kind of create it as if the building was removed but that particular piece was maintained,” McNeil said.
The HPC also approved a sitting area outside of the Prattaugan Museum in honor of Lenore Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was very involved and integrated into the community and was also very involved in the Prattaugan Museum.
Vice Chairman Jean Davis proposed the idea to honor Kirkpatrick, and all of the HPC was in agreement.
