A Bicentennial Park deserves a Bicentennial Ale ...

 ... and NABC will be brewing it for sale throughout 2013, both in draft and bottles.

The only question is what to call it. The recipe will be the same as last year's Steamboat Common, which was brewed to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first steamboat journey on the Ohio River.

Here are a few finalists, in approximate order of my personal preference.

New Albany, Nefariously
Wonderfully & Delightfully Us
Ale, CeeSaw!
Stormwater Premium Export
Erika's Extra Special Bitter (EESB)

Submit your ideas to me -- I have an inside connection to the brewery.

New Albany bicentennial park builder to be selected today; Council waiting on funding events planned for 2013 celebration, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

... As for the park, the commission received two bids earlier this month, the lowest of which was $537,000 as submitted by MAC Construction and Excavating. The second bid for the park — which will be built at the corner of Spring and Pearl streets downtown — was for $548,076 and was received from EZ Construction.

Those bids were taken under advisement for staff review, and while the Gahan administration wouldn’t confirm which company will be suggested to receive the contract, the money appropriated for the project indicates it will be MAC.

Along with the $312,000 approved by the council, the city also garnered a $225,000 grant from the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County for the park. Those amounts add up to $537,000, which was the sum of the MAC bid.