The Knoxville City Council approved the contract for the library park project at their meeting Monday night.

The council received six total bids and accepted the lowest, which came in from Hooyer Construction for $235,000. This new library park will include a garden, sidewalks, trees, greenery, a stage for library programming, picnic tables, and a memorial bench. The garden at the park will be called “Dixie’s Garden” to honor Knoxville native Dixie Gebhardt, who is well known for designing the Iowa Flag. Knoxville City Manager Heather Ussery says construction is expected to start soon on this project and the city is excited for the addition.

“They will be getting started hopefully in the next couple of weeks depending on weather. The completion is the middle of June, so we’re looking forward to hopefully having it opening up this summer. I’m not sure if the library will be able to have programs there this summer just depending on grass seed, but it will be a nice addition when the time comes.”

The City has worked with Dixie’s family on this project to design it in a way that would honor her.