On May 27, crews broke ground on the North Central College Riverwalk Park on a project that will extend the Naperville Riverwalk up to Washington Street.

Baumgartner Construction won the job with a low bid of $2,049,192.32, roughly $500,000 under the city's budget. The city received five bids total.

"We got five bids on the project, which is great. It's unusual to get that many. The low bid was Baumgartner Construction at just over $2 million, which is about half a million dollars under our budget," said Andy Hynes, Naperville's city engineer and deputy director of Transportation, Engineering, and Development.

The Naperville City Council approved the bid at its Tuesday, May 19, meeting. The target completion date is October 30.

The park will include several plaza areas, extensive landscaping, and a ramp down to the river. North Central College, which owns the property, will add an arched gateway sign and historical plaques about the college in the plaza spaces.

About half the cost is funded by a state grant of just over $1 million awarded in 2014. The remaining half comes from local city funds. Hynes said the project had been delayed for years, primarily because of Washington Street Bridge construction. North Central College is separately paying for the arch and plaques.

The NCC Riverwalk Park is one of six capital projects in the Riverwalk 2031 Master Plan, which aims to mark the Riverwalk's 50th anniversary and Naperville's 200th anniversary of incorporation in 2031. The Riverwalk stretches 1.75 miles along the DuPage River.

Once the park is finished, the city plans to begin the South Gateway project, extending the Riverwalk from Hillside Road to Martin Avenue and connecting pedestrians to Endeavor Health Edward Hospital. That project received $1.5 million in funding in 2023, including $800,000 in state money and a $700,000 gift from Edward-Elmhurst Health.