After two years of remodeling and other work, Council Bluffs officials say they city’s historic Bayliss Park will be ready to open in time for Christmas. Council Bluffs Parks Director Ron Hopp says Bayliss Park has been a center of activity for years and has been closed while a new fountain was installed.
Hopp says the park is now complete with its new "look" and the holidays will be very special there this year. Hopp says the park has: "kind of a formal look. Something that if you walked up wouldn’t look like 1990 or 1980 or even 1900. Kind of a timeless, Victorian look to the park."
He says they are making a number of changes this year. Instead of the holiday figurines that once decorated the area, they are going for a more formal look that fits with the new decor.
"When we were going through the renovation process of the park, there were no lights. Of course, the electrical systems were torn out and those are all new," Hopp says, "the exciting thing about the lights this year is that the lighting was spearheaded by a volunteer organization within our community who really adopted this as a project. They actually raised about $130,000 and provided a lot of volunteer labor to help make this a reality for our community."
The lighting of Bayliss Park is the official kick off to the Winterfest Celebration in Council Bluffs, which runs through January.