Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.No visitors have stopped at N.P. Dodge Park in the past few months.
Metal gates block the park's entrance along John J. Pershing Drive, with signs posted to warn off potential trespassers. A gray coat of dust blankets the park's grass fields. Mud and dirt cover much of the surrounding trails.
Omaha officials estimate last summer's floodwaters wrought roughly $2 million worth of damage to the riverside park's 44 acres. It has been closed to visitors for months.
But, gradually, the city is working to bring the park back to life. A massive effort to clear the park of leftover debris is ongoing, with a goal of opening the park's popular marina by Memorial Day.
Sometime after that, officials hope the haven for softball and soccer will be fully cleared for visitors.
Seven area contractors have submitted bids for the first phase of the park's cleanup, with potential price tags that range from $174,586 to $675,995. The City Council will vote on the city's pick for a contractor in the coming weeks.
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The first phase of cleanup work is expected to begin March 1 and is tentatively planned to be completed by May 15.
Crews already have spent months removing more than 300 of the park's trees — damaged by floodwaters and age — to reach a point where other cleanup work could begin.
"We couldn't even get to the marina," said Brook Bench, interim director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, of the damage left by the flood.
"We've come a long way in a short amount of time. We have a huge operation going on there."
The contractor selected to complete the initial phase of cleanup work will face a long list of tasks.
Roads, sidewalks, trails and parking lots must be cleared of massive amounts of sediment left by the receding river water. The marina and sports fields must also be rehabilitated.
Irrigation systems on the park's four softball fields must be replaced, and the playing fields must be reseeded and affixed with devices to control soil erosion.
Future projects include repairing the marina's dock and renovating other infrastructure. Electrical and plumbing systems that serve each of the marina's docks must also be repaired.
The park's "crow's nest" and marina shower and bathroom building must also be fixed. There are also light poles, flag poles and picnic tables to repaint. Two new park picnic shelters are also to be constructed.
Contractors will also soon bid to tackle a dredging project along the park's riverfront and in the marina. Amazingly, Bench said, only an area near the front of the marina must be dredged after the flood.
Meanwhile, city officials say they're closely monitoring rehabilitation efforts to ensure the city's expenses qualify for federal disaster relief funds.
Mother Nature, it seems, may end up upgrading N.P. Dodge Park.
"The only really good thing about the flood is we're going to get new facilities," Bench said.
"We're going to try to make the campground better. We're going to make the ballparks better. Our goal is to make all of our facilities better than they used to be."
Contact the writer: 402-444-1068, johnny.perez@owh.com, twitter.com/PerezJr
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