News File Photo Colorful flowers surround the fountain at Culligan Plaza in Alpena in September. A reconstruction of the downtown plaza will begin on Tuesday.

ALPENA — The reconstruction of Culligan Plaza in downtown Alpena won’t begin until the spring.

There was hope the project would have been completed already, but complicated terms connected to the grant have taken time to meet and forced the project to be pushed back.

The city received a nearly $1 million Community Development Block Grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to use toward the projected $1.2 million cost of the renovation of the plaza and a new restroom facility near it.

In order to receive the grant, the city agreed to pay a 10% percent cash match of $118,555. A $20,000 grant from the Alpena County Youth and Recreation Committee was added to the pot. A $100,000 donation was also made from the First Federal of Northern Michigan Legacy Foundation.

Stipulations in the grant are onerous and numerous, meaning it took more time to meet the demands.

City Engineer Steve Shultz said to meet the grant requirements, a grant administrator needed to be hired, and detailed studies of the property needed to be done and submitted to the state.

Also, Shultz said, the city had hoped it could do the project in two phases, the plaza first and then the restrooms, but the MEDC said it all needed to be done in one step, which set the timeline back a spell because the city needed to get its design plan updated.

“Originally, we hoped we could piecemeal the project and do designs for the bathrooms while making progress on the plaza itself,” Shultz said. “As it turned out, the whole project has to be done in one large contract.”

Shultz said the city has hired an architect to design the restrooms, and once that is done, a bid package will be put together and the bid process for construction will begin.

Shultz said a renovation of the plaza is badly needed because there are unseen issues with the plumbing underneath the concrete and because it is not very accessible to people with disabilities. He said if the condition of the plaza is not addressed, its condition will continue to deteriorate and become worse.

“It is still leaking and there are still serious issues,” he said.

When completed, the new plaza, which will retain its name, will include a performance stage, a fire feature, and a rolling river with miniature waterfalls. It will also contain many trees and flowers and features concrete, rock, and brick out of respect for Alpena’s history. The city’s Christmas tree will be displayed on the performance stage.

The new plaza will also comply with the Americans With Disability Act, ensuring accessibility for all residents.

Shultz said all of the aspects and features included in the original design for the plaza remain and will be incorporated as intended.

“Nothing has changed,” he said.

Despite the delay and the logistics in meeting the terms of the grant, Shultz said it is hard to turn away such a large grant that covers such a large chunk of a project. He said without the grant, the city would not be able to do the project.

“We absolutely wouldn’t be able to do it, so it was important we take advantage of this,” Shultz said.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.