Pueblo County commissioners have approved funding to complete the design of the eastern channel expansion of the Riverwalk and the construction of a boathouse.

“This funding is all the way through construction drawings. We anticipate to be done with them in about 10 months,” said. Lynn Clark, the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo executive director.

The county will pay $957,288 for the design project.

The commissioners also approved a slew of other intergovernmental agreements for 1A funding projects at their meeting last week.

The agreements lay the groundwork for kicking off several 1A projects including East Side street improvements, Main Street and Union Avenue street improvements and several other projects.

Pueblo County voters passed Ballot Question 1A in November 2016 which allows the county to exceed state-imposed Taxpayer's Bill of Rights limits, and directs the county to use expiring Tax Incentive Agreements in the amount of approximately $66 million to fund a list of 20 community improvement projects.

Expansion of the Riverwalk is on that list.

“We have contracts with an architect and an engineering company to complete the design and we are going to meet pretty quick here and start the discussion,” Clark said.

Pueblo County Commissioner Garrison Ortiz said this agreement is an important milestone.

“When people travel from out of town they tell us how great the Riverwalk is and we are always glad and ecstatic to tell them it’s being extended and that project is continuing to grow,” Ortiz said.

Plans to build a boathouse on the Riverwalk at Gateway Park have only been in the schematic phase and an artist’s rendition isn’t the final vision for the proposed three-story building.

Clark said the current schematics and design are the ultimate bare bones of what it could be.

The proposed boathouse is being envisioned as having two stories with rooftop event space. It will be important for getting new visitors Downtown, providing safe storage of boats, maintenance space for boats, equipment storage and an administrative home for HARP operations.

The building also would include two conference rooms and office space. The conference room windows would face the extended channel of the Riverwalk.

Boats will be covered and protected from weather. The current boats are 18 years old and sit in the elements year round.

The Riverwalk channel extension alignment being proposed is located to align with a potential future channel extension further east under Interstate 25, which would provide a future connection to Runyon Lake. From Day One of planning the Riverwalk, it had always been envisioned that it would extend to Runyon Lake.

“We will build on those designs,” Clark said.

The final design, will include details on construction and engineering. There will then be a construction package put together before the project goes out to bid.

“This action by the commissioners pays for all of that process,” said Steven Meier, project manager.

Some projects would require intergovernmental agreements with partner agencies, including the city of Pueblo, Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority, Pueblo West and Colorado City.

And the Pueblo County commissioners and City Council, along with other partners wanting to expand the Riverwalk, have said they want an “iconic” structure that the town can be known for.

The commissioners agreed that they want the structure to be an attention-grabber. The structure would be visible from Interstate 25.

Clark estimated that the total project cost with both expansion and boathouse proposals will be about $8.7 million.

amestas@chieftain.com

Twitter: @mestas3517