T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Dredging work at Riverview Park on the north side of town began last week, with Con-Struct Inc. of Marshalltown and Ames serving as the general contractor for the project.

Dredging is underway at the Riverview Park lagoon as part of the ongoing first phase of what will be major improvements to the park on the northern edge of Marshalltown.

Marshalltown Public Works Director Heather Thomas said equipment rolled in on Monday with dredging underway on Tuesday.

Thomas noted the dredging is being done for aesthetic purposes – initially there were plans to expand the stormwater storage capacity but calculations showed that such expansion was unnecessary and, combined with the winning bid for the improvement project coming in below the estimate, funds were set aside to increase the project scope to allow for dredging to still take place.

“When it gets silted in quite a bit, it looks weedy and really shallow,” Thomas said. “This gives us an opportunity to clean that space up.”

The dredging is done in the winter to allow heavy equipment to be on the park grounds and not disturb the surrounding ground. The estimated timeframe for the project is three weeks.

Once warmer weather arrives, the project will move on to a new pedestrian bridge over the lagoon as well as building pickleball courts, turf volleyball courts, horseshoe courts and a playground area.

The Marshalltown City Council awarded Con-Struct Inc., which has offices in Marshalltown and Ames, with the contract for the project in late September.

Riverview Park is the largest public park in the city of Marshalltown.