The Board of Mayor and Aldermen have awarded a contract to Fordice Construction Co. to develop the site of the Vicksburg Farmers’ Market at Washington and Jackson streets into a multiuse park.

Fordice was the lone bidder on the project with a total bid of $146,538, which is the combination of the company’s $129,700 base bid, plus a $16,838 alternate bid to install underground electrical wiring at the park. The project’s budget is about $127,000.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the extra cost will be made up with money left from the $9.5 million first draw of the 2015 capital improvements bond issue.

“I just don’t want to delay it,” Flaggs said. “It’s been delayed so many times before.”

The board tried twice before to build a farmers’ market on the property on Washington Street. The first time, bids came in at $600,000, the next time it came in at $700,000.

After the second attempt, the board decided to do something that would be maintenance free and incorporate green space.

Russ Markle of Wier Boerner Allin architects of Jackson, who designed the park, in September showed the board several conceptions of the park that showed meandering sidewalk with landscaping, a stage for performing arts and green space for activities.

The drawings also show a layout for the farmers’ market and an arrangement for showing outdoor movies.

“It’s a very minimal installation, but it gives you a great amount of flexibility to adapt and find things that we haven’t even imagined,” Markle told the board.