ROBERTSDALE, Alabama -- More than a year after applying for a grant to place a concrete bridge on College Avenue over Rock Creek, construction of the more than half-million dollar project should get underway over the next two months.

At its meeting Monday, the Robertsdale City Council voted to enter into an agreement with the State of Alabama through the Alabama Department of Transportation to construct the 68-foot pre-cast concrete bridge, which will be built in two sections.

In March of 2012, the city applied for an Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP) grant to fund the project, hiring engineers to design the project in April.

Grant funds totaling $451,704 were approved by the Alabama DOT in May of last year, with the city paying $112,926 for a total project cost of $564,630.

The state will let bids to a private contractor on June 28 and construction should begin within 30 to 60 days after that, said City Engineer Greg Smith. The contract calls for 80 working days which, pending weather delays, should work out to be three to four months, Smith said.

The council voted unanimously Monday to approve the resolution with all council members present.

In other business Monday, the council approved changes in the renovation of the historic PZK Civic Center.

The $400,000 project, which will be funded in part by a $100,000 Federal appropriation and the refinancing of a general obligation warrant, began at the end of May.

Plans were to replace the wooden decking on the west side of the building with a poured concrete decking, then construct a T-wing with a side entrance with a drive-through 1,000 square-foot covered canopy on the east side.

It was discovered, however, that construction would encroach on oak trees on the east side of the building.

“It was so close that it would likely kill the trees,” Smith said. “If not, then the roots of the trees will eventually break through the foundation.”

Since the deck is narrower than the canopy, Smith said, plans are to build the deck on the east side of the building and move the covered canopy to the west side.

A 3,000-square-foot addition will also be added to the back of the building, including a kitchen, restrooms and a meeting room. One of the current restrooms will be turned into a dressing room, while the other will become a hallway leading into the back of the building.

The final project would be to completely strip and replace the roof with a new metal structure, bringing the new roofline in sync with the additions to the building.

The PZK (which stands for Poucny a Zabavni Krouzek, translated as Educational Recreational Circle), a group of Czechoslovakian immigrants, built the structure to serve settlers which came to Robertsdale from the North in the 1920s. The Hall, built in 1924, was also used by German and Swedish settlers.

The PZK donated the property to the City of Robertsdale on Aug. 17, 1992, and was closed for just over a year, from Dec. 10, 1992 to just before Christmas of 1993, while the city spent about $100,000 to renovate the building.

In February of 1994, the property was dedicated to the city with the property being renamed PZK Civic Park and the meeting hall named the PZK Civic Center.

The improvements will bring the structure into compliance with the American Disabilities Act, Mayor Charles Murphy said in a May interview. Plans are to have the project completed by the end of 2013.

The council also agreed to allow Smith to go ahead with plans to paint the city’s three water towers using the current graphics.

Council member Ruthie Campbell inquired about incorporating the city’s logo into the project but, after concerns were expressed that the graphics on the logo would be too small to read, Murphy suggested they go ahead with the current graphics.

“Since the graphics are put on last, if we want to change them, that can certainly be discussed at a later date,” he said.

The council also voted unanimously to allow the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce to use four of the city’s dates for the Baldwin County Coliseum for the Chamber’s Annual Banquet and Flavors of the South in 2014.