Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part package on the evolution of Monticello’s West Bridge Park. Next week’s article will explore planned improvements to the playground.
MONTICELLO — As downtown revitalization ramps up, a key cog in the wheel of Monticello’s rebirth lies with West Bridge Park, a riverfront gem that local leaders aim to turn into a recreation destination.
Since opening 25 years ago, in 1999, West Bridge Park has served the community well, offering a playground popular with little ones; hosting large festivals like Brewfest and Glow Fest; serving as the site of community events like Music on the Mississippi outdoor concerts and Lions Club Christmas parties; offering a beautiful backdrop for landscape artists; providing anglers with fishing access to the river; and more.
But municipal leaders, including Parks, Arts, & Recreation Director Tom Pawelk, believe the park holds far more potential, and they’re using community feedback to ensure that the space is utilized to its full capabilities — and brought up to modern, accessible standards for those of all ages and abilities.
“It’ll be a piece of history,” Pawelk said. “We’re not gonna do this again for another 50 years. We want to build a park that’s a regional resource for our community — a recreation destination. We have the biggest natural resource — the Mississippi River — running right through our community. It’s time to tie into it.”
Big things are in the works for this downtown hotspot, including a large state-of-the-art, river-themed playground that will serve as the centerpiece. But that’s only one portion of the project, and it’s still on the horizon, likely to happen in 2025.
Upgrades take shape
More immediate changes are currently underway, including new landscaping, trees, sustainable features, a large stone terraced seating area that will serve as something of an amphitheater and gathering space, ADA-accessible pathways and more.
“We’re going to have a ton of landscaping, new trees,” Pawelk said. “The idea is to really make it a welcoming place for everyone.”
Much of the park is currently a construction zone, closed to visitors as these elements take shape, with the expectation that landscaping, planting and hard-scaping — installing a new concrete sidewalk — will be finished by late July to early August.
The city invested approximately $200,000 for the sidewalks, along with upgrades to the park’s edge along River Street, the parks director said.
Many of these features are currently being installed, or will soon go in, such as boulders, granite walls, perennial gardens, rain gardens and also prairie planting on the sloped hillside, according to Pawelk.
The new landscaping at the park is designed with sustainability in mind, he said, including prairie planting, which is something the city has been trying at several locations around town.
“We don’t have to have everything as turf grass,” Pawelk explained. “That golf course-type lawn takes fertilizer, chemicals, it takes a lot to maintain. Planting a native plant community will provide a better infiltration area than turf grass, and will attract pollinators.”
Once the basic landscaping is in place, he said the city plans to enlist the help of the East Bridge Gardners group, which, despite its name, has spread to other areas throughout Monticello.
“Our intent is to have the community beautification group help us with the next steps with some of those planting areas throughout the park,” Pawelk said.
Up at the park’s corner where River and Walnut streets meet, much of the new terraced seating area is already complete.
The materials for this gathering space came from a quarry in nearby St. Cloud, Pawelk said.
It’s a feature that should serve the park well, especially during festivals and other events.
“When we have Music on the Mississippi down here, it’ll give people an opportunity to sit on the hillside and watch what’s going on,” he said.
In addition to adding angled parking on River Street, the fishing pier on the river will be getting updated, and park staff are looking to enhance the underpass that connects West Bridge and East Bridge parks.
Pawelk said he has applied for state PEL grant funding “to enhance underneath the bridge with lighting, fencing and a little bit of trail improvement.” He was expecting to find out soon whether those funds will be coming through.
More improvements in that vicinity could also be ahead.
“There’ll be more with the river and East Bridge Park down the road,” he explained.
All tied together
The timing of the work at West Bridge Park was planned to coincide with the city’s larger Downtown Roadway & Pedestrian Improvements Project, as these are tied together.
“It’s a big project,” Pawelk explained. “You have Walnut Street, you have River Street improvements. Everything came together, and we had little phases of it.”
“We’re making sure all the landscaping flows through the downtown and into the park. All of these improvements were thought of with the Walnut and River Street revitalization. The park plan has amazing pedestrian access. The accessibility to the park is 100-fold, changing 100% what it used to be.”
Much of it hinged on creating a connection from Walnut Street to the park, which was recently accomplished.
“We didn’t have that connection from Walnut Street to the park before. The street never went through,” Pawelk said. “We’ve created wonderful access to the park from the downtown now. You can feel safe crossing those areas now. We’re tying the river to the park, the river to the downtown, all of those thoughts were incorporated.”
Mayor Lloyd Hilgart agreed, and said this is the culmination of years of work.
“The city has been talking about redeveloping this block for 20-plus years,” he said. “The park improvements are the finishing touch to the street improvements. When all the landscaping and greenscaping goes in, it’s going to look great.”
He explained how one of the goals of the downtown revitalization project is to draw folks to the river, and take advantage of the city’s premier natural resource.
“All of this is to encourage pedestrians downtown to highlight the river,” Hilgart said. “We have an amenity here that is underutilized.”
And, when it’s finished, he believes “the park edge and playground will be the cherry on top of the sundae.”
Turning the park into a recreation destination helps with the city’s ultimate goal of attracting more folks to the downtown, including families, Hilgart said.
“I think you need to have more than one reason to come down here,” he said. “To eat, grab a drink, bring your kids to the playground, get candy and ice cream. We’re trying to make this a city within a city.”
Community needs
Much of the work taking place at West Bridge has been the direct result of community feedback, with a comprehensive needs assessment conducted in 2022-23 that looked specifically at Monticello’s parks, arts and recreation.
One big find to come out of the survey: “People wanted better connectivity,” Pawelk said.
That entails adding more pathways, trails and sidewalks within the parks and connecting them to other areas and facilities.
Other top needs expressed in the assessment included better amenities, such as restrooms and shelters; along with tying together natural areas, like lakes and rivers.
“I feel we’re hitting all of the top three of the community needs with this project: Connectivity, amenities and tying to the natural area,” Pawelk said.
Although the survey is over, that hasn’t stopped feedback from pouring in, with the Parks & Rec chief saying he heard a lot of buzz about West Bridge during Walk & Roll earlier this month.
“We had a lot of positive energy at Walk & Roll,” he said. “People were saying ‘We’re so excited to have this park done.’ A lot of the groups are excited that we’re upgrading the park and they’re eager to know what’s going on. And they like the amenities that are going on. We got a lot of feedback.”
He knows that community groups are eager to hold their events in the park again, and said his team is working to get West Bridge up and running as soon as possible.
Hopefully, that will be before Hilgart’s Let’s Chalk festival returns for its third year at the end of August.
The annual chalkfest is slated to be held on River and Walnut streets over the weekend of Aug. 24-25, with some festivities happening in the park.
In part two of this package, read about plans for a new and improved playground at West Bridge Park.
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