Thoughts On A River Walk? Attend The Open House

ST. CLOUD -- The idea of creating a river walk along the Mississippi River north of downtown St. Cloud has been talked about for years, and now you have another chance to weigh in as the city continues to finalize designs.

Community Development Director Matt Glaesman says the riverfront could look a lot different from Butler Park to Hester Park, especially after they make the necessary upgrades to the city's water plant.

Right, a lot of folks don't know that much of the water plant is actually underneath Hester Park, so as we have to tear that up to make the operational changes and expand the plant we have the opportunity to build something different back on top of the water plant to be that overlook of the river.

The idea is to also narrow Fifth Avenue along the river to make room for the river walk.

The cost for the river walk is estimated at about $4 million, the water plant upgrades will cost about $25 million, and improvements to the lift station are around $1 million.

Construction is expected to begin in 2021.

There is an open house on this project on Wednesday from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. at the Whitney Senior Center.