KEARNEY, Neb. — As Kearney grows, so does its parks department.

The city council approved construction bids for the two main structures at the newly-planned Millennial Park last week. Director of Parks Eric Hellriegel says the construction phase follows the phase in which staff collects input from the neighborhood.

“What’s their vision for the park? Then, it’s really our job to take what that vision is then and make it a reality," Hellriegel said. "I think there’s that transformation from just taking a simple set of ideas and concepts and priorities, and then turning it into a finished project.”

Millennial Park will be 2.7 acres and located at east 35th Street Drive and Avenue X in the new Millennial Estates development. After talking with locals, their vision for the new park was clear.

“We surveyed the neighborhood and had (them) tell us what some of the preferred amenities were and splash pad was at the top of the list,” Hellriegel said.

The new park will feature the city’s seventh splash pad, but it will have differences. The nearly $125,000 splash pad promises to have improved water efficiency and offer a unique overhead water feature. The park will also include an $85,000 playground structure, a small basketball court and a sidewalk around the perimeter.

“Then always with these park developments, there’s always some open space in there," Hellriegel said. "One of the things that we enjoy seeing is the pickup football games and the picnics and those things that, again, aren’t really program space, but can be used in a lot of different ways.”

Infrastructure work is happening right now, installation will begin in the late spring and the city hopes to open the park in the middle of June.