The City of Eau Claire and a contractor are entering the final phase of designing Haymarket Plaza, the public space that will connect Haymarket Landing and the Confluence Arts Center alongside the Chippewa River. In early July, the City Council unanimously approved a contract with Design Studio Etc. of Madison to prepare a master plan and construction documents for the plaza. The plans that have been developed over the course of several years with the help numerous public input sessions will now be finalized, City Engineer Dave Solberg said. The documents that will be prepared by Design Studio Etc. will ultimately have to go through another round of approvals by the Waterways and Parks Commission, the Plan Commission, and the City Council, which Solberg said likely will happen sometime between November and January. After that, the project can be put out for bid and work can begin when the snow melts next spring. “We’re trying to do everything to make sure we have all of the process portions of it lined up so we can finish construction in conjunction with the opening of the Confluence Arts Center,” Solberg said. The $45 million arts facility is slated to open around September 2018. The current master plan for Haymarket Plaza includes a mostly paved public space with elements that including seating walls, stairs to the river, boulder seating, light sculptures, a “fire wall,” an interactive fountain, and more.