If construction on Livorna Park was supposed to start in July 2026, why did the Sun Kings play the park that month? Contra Costa County's environmental filing from this spring said work on the renovation at 2615 Miranda Avenue would begin in July 2026 and take about 320 working days. Instead, the summer series went ahead as usual. Bay Area Telegraph listed four free Friday concerts from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: The Sun Kings on July 10, Fourjour on July 17, Highway Vagabonds on July 24 and Fog City Swampers on July 31.
The project is finally moving. Bids are due Wednesday, October 14, at 2 p.m. That deadline matters more for next summer than for this fall. When you work forward from the bid opening using the contract's own terms, most of the likely start dates put July 2027 inside the construction window. No 2027 concert schedule has been announced, and none of the published County documents says what would happen to a July series like this year's if that's how it plays out.
The start date that came and went
The project's paper trail goes back more than four years, and the County forecast a July 2026 start only six months ago.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| March 2022 | Public Works/Special Districts raises the need to renovate deteriorating facilities |
| Mid-February to March 31, 2023 | Community survey runs, with meetings on March 8 and March 22 |
| October 10, 2023 | Alamo Municipal Advisory Council sends its priorities |
| May 7 and May 15, 2024 | Preliminary-plan meetings bring out objections and support |
| April 27, 2026 | Board of Supervisors approves the project 5-0 and authorizes advertising for bids |
| April 29, 2026 | CEQA notice forecasts a July 2026 start |
| September 4, 2026 | Stantec's bid plan set is issued |
| October 6, 2026 | Addendum No. 2 is issued |
| October 14, 2026 | Bids are due at 2 p.m. |
The July forecast and a mid-October bid opening can't both be right. The County documents don't explain why the schedule moved. In April the County was describing a plan. In October it's asking contractors for prices on a finished set of drawings.
The contract is tighter than the forecast
The spring filing estimated about 320 working days. The bid form contractors are signing now uses a different measure: completion "within 370 calendar days from and after the starting date as established by the Notice to Proceed."
The two numbers measure different things. At five working days a week, 320 working days comes to about 64 weeks of construction. Counted on the calendar, 370 days is just over 52 weeks. So the binding contract term is shorter than the timeline the County floated in April.
The contract also puts money behind the deadline. A contractor who finishes late owes the County $1,000 for each calendar day the work remains incomplete, with allowances for unavoidable delays. The base-bid construction contract is estimated at $2,520,000. The Board estimated the full project cost at $4,000,000, paid entirely from County Service Area R-7 Alamo special-district funds. Alamo's own parks district is paying for this, not a countywide pot.
Counting forward to July 2027
The bid documents give enough to sketch a timeline, even without a confirmed start date:
- Bids open October 14, 2026.
- Bidders can't withdraw their bids for 60 days after opening, and any award is supposed to happen within that hold period. That puts a contract award, if one is made, around mid-December 2026.
- The 370-day clock starts with the Notice to Proceed, whenever the County issues it after the award.
- A Notice to Proceed issued any time between this winter and late June 2027 puts all of July 2027, the month this year's concerts filled, inside the contract window.
Here's how that works in practice. A start in January 2027 runs the contract into early January 2028. A start in April 2027 runs it into April 2028. A start in mid-December would bring the deadline to late December 2027. Every one of those windows includes next July.
That's arithmetic, not a schedule, and it leaves out some things that matter. A contractor can finish ahead of the deadline. The work could be phased so parts of the park stay open. The bid and Board materials reviewed for this post don't say whether Livorna will close completely or in sections, and they don't mention relocating any 2027 events. No award date or confirmed start date has been published either.
What the park looks like on the other side
The finished plan follows what the community asked for in 2023 pretty closely. Stantec's engagement process collected 271 online survey responses, 26 Zoom participants and four in-person attendees. Shade was the top request with 82 mentions. Drought-tolerant or colorful planting and a water feature or splash pad came next, with 24 mentions each. In October 2023, the Alamo MAC put a splash pad, shade, more parking, poured-in-place surfacing and new accessible play structures at the top of its list.
Here's what the County's project description includes:
- Playground: a replacement for the existing 8,400-square-foot playground, with shade sails, shade structures, umbrellas, seating, drinking fountains and bike racks
- Water play: a new water-play/mister area supported by water treatment tanks and mechanical equipment
- Basketball: the existing 2,538-square-foot court expanded to full size by adding about 3,074 square feet, with two retaining walls about 4 feet tall
- Bocce and pavilion: bocce court repairs, plus perimeter paving around the pavilion with its benches and metal railings removed
- Entrance: a custom metal arbor replacing the existing trellis, with new concrete walkways out to the parking lot
- Access and restrooms: restrooms and park furnishings brought up to ADA requirements
- Parking: about two new stalls
- Trees: about 15 trees removed, three of them coast live oaks, and about 58 native, drought-tolerant trees planted
The parking line stands out. The MAC listed additional parking among its priorities, and the plan adds about two spaces. The shade and the water feature, the two items survey respondents brought up most often after shade, are both in the drawings.
The 2023 questions that are still open
The concerns raised during community meetings concerned the construction period itself, not the finished park. At the March 22, 2023 in-person meeting, participants talked about how heavily children and nannies/au pairs use the park, said they valued the concerts, and asked that closures during construction be kept short. The County's own engagement report called Livorna a community focal point for concerts, movies, events and daily family visits.
The May 2024 meetings got more contentious. Notes record both objections and support on the basketball-court expansion, pickleball noise, parking, where the pavilion would go, the playground, the splash pad and the overall cost. Some participants suggested moving the concerts to Hap Magee Ranch Park. Public Works answered that it hadn't received complaints about the Livorna concerts in several years and saw no need to move them. That answer was about whether the concerts belonged at Livorna at all. It doesn't settle where a concert series would go during a year when much of the park may be fenced off.
Hap Magee Ranch Park is the obvious stand-in for the daily playground routine. The Town of Danville lists separate play areas for younger and older children, a children's water feature, a covered picnic area, a dog park, restrooms and walking trails. The water features run from April 1 to September 30 and shut down for winter on October 1, so they're already off for the season.
The next concrete step is Wednesday's bid opening. After that, watch for a contract award on a Board of Supervisors agenda before mid-December. The award should show which contractor won, at what price compared with the $2,520,000 estimate, and maybe the first official word on when Livorna closes.
If you live near Miranda Avenue and want to know how local changes like this are showing up in what nearby homes sell for, The Dunn Team is happy to walk you through it. Get your free home valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
