After more than a year of delays, The Park in downtown Redding will open for dinner Sept. 27.

“Every day’s been exciting,” Park developer Todd Franklin said Wednesday afternoon as work continued getting his food truck court ready. “We really made a point to stay to our mission that when people enter the park, we really want to hear ‘We can’t believe this is in Redding.’”

The Park will be open 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. the first day. Then 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 28. Franklin is still deciding what his hours will be that first weekend.

Franklin has five trucks lined up for opening day: Holy Crepes, The Lamb & The Wolf, Sliders, Taco Loco, and Crispy Eggroll.

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Reed Construction and Mike Boban Construction are putting the finishing touches on the deck, a seating area that is The Park’s centerpiece and fronts the large bar that will serve beer, wine and soft drinks to customers.

“We really paid attention to the smallest detail. Even a detail like the bolts there, making sure that they’re a certain width apart and the look we wanted,” Franklin said as he pointed to the steps up to the bar.

Franklin started construction in Carnegie Park on Yuba Street in mid-July, a few months after some Lorenz Hotel residents who protested The Park’s beer and wine application to state Alcoholic Beverage Control dropped their appeals. The protests delayed the opening of the food truck court after the Redding City Council approved the project in March 2017.

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But the Carr Fire started about a week after Franklin broke ground and then the fire erupted into Redding on July 26.

“As a coach, I think it probably prepared me for it,” said Franklin, the men’s basketball coach at Simpson University in Redding. “I had so many people tell me, ‘Why don’t you just quit.’ Honestly, my kids needed me not to quit. And when they have a dream, I want to see them go for it, just like I did.”

Franklin said the Carr Fire did affect work on The Park. But he understood.

“A lot of people were out doing different things, which were more important than this project,” he said. “Builders had homes that were being affected, so we slowed down, but we are gaining speed and we’re picking up momentum and we’re really excited about the 27th.”

Franklin also has opened his food trucks in Anderson River Park. The Riverfront is open 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

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In Redding, Franklin said it will be important to serve lunch customers in an efficient manner so they can get back to work.

“We are really working on the speed,” he said.

About a month after it opens, Franklin plans to offer customers the ability to phone in their orders, and he is considering eventually delivering food orders via Uber.