Wagar Park Renovation Contractor Selected

LAKEWOOD, OH — The Wagar Park renovation has been awarded to Marra Construction. The firm bid $873,000 for the project.

Construction on the park will begin in March and should be complete by the end of 2020 or early 2021. An updated rendering of the planned park improvements was done by Brandstetter Carroll, according to Michelle Nochta, a city planner for Lakewood.

The park's playground will be moved so that it runs along Rosewood Avenue. The playground will have a north-south orientation, with an area for small children and an area for older children. There will also be a green playing field in the the park, a viewing area for parents to watch their children play, a half-basketball court, a central plaza and small gazebo.

The updated rendering by Brandstetter Carroll also shows public art installations running along Rosewood Avenue, next to the playgrounds, and a second art installation near Madison Avenue and Hilliard Road.

Wagar Park will also have a new entrance, near the Rosewood-Hilliard Road intersection. There will also be plantings in the park by the Lakewood Garden Club.

Lakewood applied for and received a $330,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The grant is similar to a grant received by the city for work on Lakewood Park, Nochta said.

In total, six companies submitted bids for the Wagar Park renovations. The city originally estimated the project would cost approximately $1 million, but Marra Construction's winning bid was for $873,000.