When will downtown Salisbury's Unity Square be completed? Yes, the end is in sight.

After much speculation about its date of completion, the downtown Salisbury focal point of Unity Square is slated to be completed by the week of April 11.

According to a spokesperson for the City of Salisbury, local firm Harkins Builders is exercising its rain date guarantee in their contract and have narrowed down their completion date to that week. Currently, the company is allotted 15 verified rain dates. There have been some delays in receiving some playground equipment and the large U-N-I-T-Y letters. A ribbon cutting ceremony is tentatively scheduled for April 19.

"With warmer weather on the horizon, we look forward to the first opportunity to host the community in Unity Square," said spokesperson Shawn Yonker. "While much of the work that has been done is infrastructure buried out of sight, the view from city headquarters has looked a great deal more like progress recently, and everything is starting to take shape."

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Salisbury City Council president: 'Excited to see the progress'

Salisbury City Council President D'Shawn Doughty echoed those sentiments, noting that location would be vital for many community events.

"We've had much moving construction in the last couple of weeks and we're excited to see the progress going with Unity Square," Doughty said. "We're also looking forward to utilizing that space for events later that month. Driving by there will allow you to see some progress already, and it's starting to look like the park we (envisioned) downtown."

While Doughty acknowledged this current City Council inherited the project from the previous administration, he underscored the name should be a reminder it is intended to unify the city despite the lukewarm reception to its proposal and construction.

"Over the last year, amid elections and other (city) issues, we've had a divided community. Regardless of your opinion on the project, it's here and it's part of the city's history. Hopefully this brings Salisbury together moving forward," Doughty said.

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About Salisbury's Unity Square, designed by Baltimore firm

Designed by Baltimore-based firm Design Collective, Unity Square will feature an interactive fountain, play area, flexible lawn space with seating, sculpture and public art, a reading garden and a new street to connect the space with the existing food truck pad and parking garage.

Unity Square, first proposed to City Council in 2019, is a central component in the 2015-2035 Downtown Master Plan.

Created in 2014 with the input of over 2,500 individuals in a collaborative, democratic planning process, the Downtown Master Plan outlines recommended developments to neighborhoods, buildings, streets, community spaces and more. Some form of a central community gathering space has been recommended in Downtown Master Plans since 1965.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: All to know about Salisbury's Unity Square, including completion date