It is Vicksburg’s most used park, but from December 2017 until September, Riverfront Park off Washington Street was closed to the public while city and county officials dealt with a series of problems while trying to repair a landslide in the south end of the park.

The city and county jointly maintain the park.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Nov. 19, 2017, awarded a $324,347.70 contract to Central Asphalt of Vicksburg to repair the slide and resurface the play areas. Work began in late December 2017, but was halted Jan. 4, when a track hoe for Central Asphalt removing soil dug up a scoop of dirt containing oil believed to have been left over from a former tank farm that was in the area, and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Officials were called to evaluate site.

And old oil wasn’t the only problem.

In March, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a change order to its contract with Central Asphalt of Vicksburg totaling $35,850 to remove pieces of concrete found during excavations at the site of the slide area.

Work on the slide area was completed in June, and city officials indicated they planned to reopen the park in late June, but the opening was delayed until September because a piece of equipment used to secure playground equipment had not been delivered and installed, forcing city officials to wait. After the equipment was installed in mid-September, the park was reopened.