Region Hosts Recreational Opportunitites

FILE PHOTO — Local residents tour the Rogers Aquatics Center last year a few days before it opened in May. The center, just north of West New Hope Road, cost $13 million to build.
FILE PHOTO — Local residents tour the Rogers Aquatics Center last year a few days before it opened in May. The center, just north of West New Hope Road, cost $13 million to build.

story has subheds

Recreation in Northwest Arkansas is booming as cities and private groups funnel resources into parks and trails.

Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville each have new parks that recently opened or should open in the next few years. And the Razorback Greenway Trail will thread through all four cities.

Tens of millions of dollars are slated for these projects, bringing roughly 40 new sports fields, 50 miles of new trails and several new gyms and playgrounds. Officials said there's more to come.

Bentonville

Much of Bentonville's efforts are focused on a 35-acre Community Recreation Center, near the intersection of S.W. I Street and S.W. 41st Street. Construction began last fall. The center should open in early 2015, said David Wright, parks and recreation director.

The plan includes a 82,000-square-foot, two-story building housing a competition-size pool and fitness center and surrounded by playgrounds and trails.

"It's battled mother nature a little bit over the last couple of months, but surprisingly it's still on track," Wright said. "The (multipurpose) sports fields, they've been built. They're in the process of growing in, if you will. We anticipate play would begin out there in fall of '15."

The city's looking into extending trails from S.W. I Street to Walton Boulevard.

It opened the small Austin-Baggett Park just off S.E. Eighth Street last year. The park connects downtown's new art and market districts, Wright said.

Memorial Park, renovated in 2009, also provides about three dozen fields and courts for baseball, softball, soccer or tennis.

Rogers

Rogers enjoyed its first full year in 2013 with a new aquatic park and sports complex, said Barney Hayes, parks director. The aquatic center, just north of West New Hope Road, cost $13 million to build and opened last May. The city's regional sports park, between Dixieland Road and 24th Street, also hosted two dozen tournaments on its six baseball and softball fields.

"They were both of them really grand slam home runs," Hayes said, pointing to tens of thousands of water park visitors who spent $1.2 million. "The people will see even more amenities," he added, possibly including a wave pool and a second lazy river this year or next. "I'm a firm believer as things improve, you need to improve, too, in order to hold your public, or they'll go somewhere else."

Veteran's Park in east Rogers is adding five lighted soccer fields, concession stand, restrooms and road improvements. Play on the fields should begin this fall or next spring, Hayes said.

The city recently began improvements around Lake Atalanta as well, he said. The lake should be ringed by a trail, playgrounds, a bike park and a dog park in two years or so.

About 74 acres near Mount Hebron Road west of Interstate 540 are also awaiting development, but there are no solid plans until money becomes available.

Springdale

Two new parks covering 180 acres are in the works for Springdale: one in the southeast at Don Tyson Parkway and Hylton Road, the other at the corner of West Downum and Ball roads in the northwest.

"We're hoping to have those ready for bid by early March," said Rick McWhorter, parks and recreation director. "We're just now in the final design phase."

Together the two will have more than a dozen soccer and baseball fields. The southeast park will also include a dog park, the city's first. Officials hope to finish both by fall 2015.

"Number one, it will bring us probably closer to where we should be with the size of the community," McWhorter said. "It will allow us to do a lot more in terms of if we want to host large tournaments of sorts."

Springdale's Randal Tyson Sports Complex, near Watkins Avenue and Interstate 540, is home to several sports' youth and adult leagues and the area's Miracle League, a baseball group for people with disabilities who play on specially designed fields.

Fayetteville

Work continues on a 200-acre regional park near Interstate 540 and Cato Springs Road, supplementing the city's 60 parks and natural areas. The city in February added 376 acres atop Mount Kessler next to the park. The land features several miles of trails, rock formations, groves of old-growth trees and views of southwest Fayetteville.

Money has been accumulating for the $28 million plan for more than a decade. The first phase, building several soccer and baseball fields, should begin this fall, said Connie Edmonston, parks and recreation director.

It should take about a year to complete. Future plans include tennis, basketball and sand volleyball courts and an amphitheater.

"We're getting there. Everything's just starting to fill in now," Edmonston said. "We're anxious to get the park open, but also we're going to have to allow a little time for the grass to grow."

In February the city bought 376 acres near the regional park on Mount Kessler, which already includes several miles of trails and old-growth forest.

Fayetteville's also working on an easement to connect to the Razorback Greenway Trail network, she added.

The Gary Hampton Softball Complex on North Salem Road recently hosted the first softball tournament of the year, Edmonston said, bringing 26 teams. Hundreds of youth soccer and baseball participants also play at Walker Park on West 15th Street.

Regional

The greenway will wind 36 miles from Fayetteville to the Missouri border when completed. Most of Bentonville and Fayetteville's sections are finished, said Misty Murphy, regional trails coordinator for the Northwest Arkansas Council. The rest should open this year.

"There are wide spots you can walk or run or ride already, but there's still that hole in the middle," Murphy said, noting progress around Lake Springdale and the trail's Rogers-Lowell section, which should open this summer. "They're really moving fast on that now that the weather's better."

When finished, the greenway is meant to be a backbone for a wider trail system for the cities to build from, Murphy said.

The area also boasts 150 miles of unpaved trails for mountain biking and hiking, she added -- another 50 miles with Devil's Den State Park and Eureka Springs.

Beyond the metro area, state forests and waterways abound.

The federally protected Buffalo National River offers 130 miles for floating and recreation.

Boating, camping, fishing and skiing are available at Beaver Lake, which has more than a dozen public use areas and Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds. Beaver Lake provides nearly 500 miles of shoreline and 28,000 acres of water, according to Arkansas tourism figures.

Hundreds of miles of trails and dozens of campsites can be found in the Ozark National Forest, which contains more than a million acres between Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock. The Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area near Rogers is the state's largest park with 35 miles of trails.

Devil's Den State Park, half an hour south of Fayetteville, has several more miles of hiking trails.

Both parks offer educational talks, guided tours and special events throughout the year.

NW News on 03/23/2014

Upcoming Events