The Pedestrian Mall will go through some major construction this year.

On Monday night, the Iowa City City Council agreed to award the contract for Ped Mall reconstruction to Portzen Construction of Dubuque. The base bid will be not quite $6.8 million with the addition of a stage canopy for the price of $637,300. The original estimated base bid was $6.8 million.

Part of the bid will haul the salvaged bricks to Meskwakie Park to find people interested in them. Originally, the bricks were going to be taken to the landfill.

“I’m glad there is a resolution to the bricks instead of just taking them to the landfill to go to waste,” Councilor John Thomas said.

City senior civil engineer Scott Sovers said the construction will last for two construction seasons, with a late start date of April 30 and a completion date of Oct. 31, 2019.

All of the councilors, with Kingsley Botchway absent, said they are excited about this project.

“The Pedestrian Mall is a vibrant part of our town,” Councilor Susan Mims said. “The communication collaboration between the city and business owners has had a huge impact on the businesses.”

— Maria Kuiper