Floodwall steps replacement project to cost $8K

CHILLICOTHE – City officials plan to move forward with replacing the floodwall steps in Yoctangee Park after the holiday and will come with a price tag of $8,000.

The project was revealed last week during a city parks and recreation committee meeting, where officials got an opportunity to assess the deterioration while hearing details from Parks and Recreation Director Dave Tener. Tener said a local contractor is currently working on developing a set of blueprints.

“I doubt it will be a completed project before July 4,” Tener said. “We have a hundred, if not a thousand people, daily using those steps.”

Chillicothe City Council still needs to approve the appropriation of money for the step repairs, which would come directly out of the city’s parks and recreation capital budget. Once that occurs, the project can move forward, although Tener said the amount of use the steps have gotten is evident.

“You’ve got 20 years out of those steps, which is not bad,” he said.

City Councilwoman Ceil Corcoran said she is in favor of the replacement project taking place and hopes the city will be proactive in making some repairs in the meantime as residents and visitors converge to the floodwall, which has become a popular site to view July 4 fireworks.

“I think they should probably be stabilized for the Fourth ... but it definitely needs to happen,” Corcoran said.