The oldest park in the city of Palm Coast has been closed for more than a year, and city leaders are now putting the pressure on the construction company to get the park back open.
- Renovations on Holland Park in Palm Coast months behind schedule
- $3 million of the budgeted $4.2 million has been spent so far
- Park expected to be back open to the public by September
Holland Park, located along Florida Park Drive, is the oldest park in the city, and residents are ready for it to be back open.
"Now, it's a mess," said Harry Bonilla, who has been walking past the construction site at Holland Park since early 2015.
Bonilla said he hears the sounds of work, but he said he isn't seeing much progress.
"I think it's slow," he said. "It's too slow."
Tumbleson White, the construction company in charge of the park renovations, had workers at the park on Thursday.
City officials said they recently sent the construction company a letter stating they have provided 24 days of extensions, but the park project is still months behind schedule.
"When there's a lot of underground work, you don't see work happening," said Carl Cote, construction and engineer manager for the city. "There are times when there wasn't a lot of work going on."
Cote said the total cost of the renovation project is $4.2 million. About $3 million has been spent so far, and the project is about 70 percent complete, Cote said.
"That's a lot of money," Bonilla said.
Joe White, president of Tumbleson White, said the city has made dozens of design changes, which has contributed to the delays.
"The project has progressed, and the project is now scheduled to be open within the next few months," White said in a phone interview. "The delays were due to the unforeseen conditions mostly impacting the underground work and the schedule has been adjusted accordingly."
City officials said Holland Park is now scheduled to re-open by September.