Trails, parks are goals for smaller cities in Northwest Arkansas

Larry Tucker of Bella Vista drains the water from his kayak Friday at the Siloam Springs Kayak Park just south of Siloam Springs. Tucker has been kayaking for a few years and regularly uses the kayak park since it opened. Many smaller communities like Siloam Springs improve the amenities they offer, like adding splash parks, bike trail and disc golf courses to compete with other cities.
Larry Tucker of Bella Vista drains the water from his kayak Friday at the Siloam Springs Kayak Park just south of Siloam Springs. Tucker has been kayaking for a few years and regularly uses the kayak park since it opened. Many smaller communities like Siloam Springs improve the amenities they offer, like adding splash parks, bike trail and disc golf courses to compete with other cities.

Splash parks, bike parks, dog parks, playgrounds, paths and sidewalks are on the wish list for many communities across Northwest Arkansas.

Communities are planning improvements and will try for state and private grants to add facilities. Leaders for several cities hope planned tie-ins to the Razorback Regional Greenway will attract grant money and create better walkways for residents.

Big plans

Cities surveyed about their upcoming amenity developments cited a host of projects in development and planning stages.

• Centerton: Finishing a baseball field; preparing to install a disc golf course in City Park; requesting state grant money for a splash park.

• Decatur: Recently paved City Park; plans to add trails and a soccer field near schools.

• Gravette: Recently added a disc golf course, sidewalks; kicking off planning phase for downtown revitalization and parks additions.

• Prairie Grove: Applying for state grant to add a splash pad to city’s aquatic center; brainstorming plans for a new park, possibly with bike trails, near the city’s wastewater plant.

• Siloam Springs: In the planning stages for developing property around City Lake with walking trails, bike trails or a disc golf course named as possibilities; planning walking trails in town near the high school and hospital; developing plans for a city dog park.

• West Fork: Grant awarded for pavement upgrades in town by 2016; adding sidewalks; recently set up beautification committee; planning 5-acre addition to Riverside Park.

Source: Staff report

Gravette is building plans for a downtown revitalization. Siloam Springs and Prairie Grove are talking about the possibility of bike parks. A proposal for a 4,900-square-feet splash pad was unveiled Thursday in Centerton.

"A splash park would be awesome," said Karyn Walker of Centerton. She took her children to the Bentonville splash park twice this summer, but if one was nearby they would have been there daily, Walker said.

Her visit Thursday to the park outside City Hall was the first since its overhaul late this spring. There could be more trails or more lighting, but activities for children close to home topped her priority list.

Four hundred Centerton children play ball in Bentonville by the city's last count, said Rick Hudson, Centerton park director and street superintendent, during a public hearing held to discuss park improvements. A grant paid $250,000 toward work city crews are doing now to create a ballpark. The center eventually will have four baseball fields and T-ball fields, he said.

Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards said there are about 12,500 people who live in the city. The official 2010 count was 9,515.

Ideas have been floated for a dog park, a veterans park and a BMX park in Centerton. A disc golf course will be installed soon around Centerton Lake thanks to a $3,500 grant awarded a month ago.

Grants would pay half the estimated $400,000 cost for the splash pad, Edwards said. The city has matching funds, he said.

"There's no guarantee we're going to get it, but if you don't try you never know," Edwards said.

Prairie Grove

It was about 10 years ago that Prairie Grove added an aquatics center, said Mayor Sonny Hudson. Now Hudson, vice president of Arkansas Municipal League District No. 3, gets calls from other cities asking him how much it cost and how they can build one too.

Costs change over time, but the formula, Hudson said, is the same: work for what you want.

A combination of grants, private donations and a quarter-percent sales tax split between the library and the aquatic center's upkeep made things happen for Prairie Grove, Hudson said. The city chose to build an aquatic center instead of a pool because it would have broader appeal, he said.

He now is focused on a $300,000 splash park addition to the aquatic center. The city applied for a grant last year and will apply again, he said.

About 300 people a day use the aquatic center in a city with a population of about 5,000, Hudson said. The splash pad isn't the only city improvement. Subdivisions are starting to boom again and he's looking into what it would take to make a bike park out of land the city owns near its wastewater facility, Hudson said.

Prairie Grove patterned its aquatic park on the one in Siloam Springs, Hudson said.

Siloam Springs

The Dogwood Springs trail system was developed in the 1990s, as was the aquatic center, said Ben Rhoades, senior planner in Siloam Springs. The Siloam Springs Kayak Park opened in 2014 four miles south of the city. The rapids are designed for kayakers, but people also ride innertubes down the rapids and families are drawn to the park.

The city is in a planning cycle with several ideas for park additions.

The city just added three soccer fields near the high school and there's the possibility of adding a concession stand.

A public meeting on a dog park proposed by local industry was held Friday, but the plan still needs funding, Rhoades said.

A three-year plan calls for land near City Lake be developed into more than just a fishing spot. There could be a walking trail loop on land to the east of the lake, a mountain bike trail could roll through the hills and the idea of a disc golf course has been tossed around, but not decided. The new library being developed south of downtown will open up greenspace for a park expansion and there's talk of putting a splash pad somewhere nearby. There will be more trails.

A new park is in the works on the south side of town based on the city's comprehensive plan finished in 2008. Land has been purchased, and the park will have a walking loop, playground and basketball courts.

The city's most recent population estimate is 16,761.

"Population growth is driving the need for new amenities," Rhoades said.

West Fork, Gravette, Decatur

West Fork is looking at trails and sidewalks that could connect to the Razorback Greenway, said Mayor Charlie Rossetti.

Riverside Park eventually will connect to what will be called the Campbell Loop, the main entrance from West Fork to the Greenway. The city has purchased an additional five acres of land to add to the walking loop at the park and is applying for grants to cover playground equipment and exercise stations, Rossetti said.

The tax base for the city of 2,317 isn't large, but officials are developing ideas, he said.

In the last month he's set up economic development and beautification committees.

"We've got a lot of ideas on the table," he said.

Gravette planners too are looking at ideas, said Patrick Hall, Gravette business director.

There are plans for revitalization of the Main Street district with sidewalks, greenspace, parking, lighting and accessibility, he said.

Gravette opened its Old Town Park Disc Golf Course earlier this year and could be doing more next year, he said. The bond cycle paid for by a three-quarter percent sales tax is almost finished and soon voters could be asked to extend it.

"We're on the cusp of doing something major," Hall said.

City employees are working for ideas to put to the community. Voters will be asked for input on what segments the money could go toward -- parks, the community center, firehouse or improvements to the old bus barn property the city is acquiring from the school district, Hall said.

The city recently has grown by annexation, Hall said. Its official population is 3,113, but he estimates it has grown to between 4,000 and 5,000.

Decatur had a population of 1,699 as measured by the 2010 Census, but apartments are going up there, said Mayor Bob Tharp.

The city is waiting for approval of a private grant that will add a 20-acre city park with walking trails, parking and a soccer field. Soccer is an upcoming sport, like baseball has been for years, Tharp said.

Local industries want wellness for employees, and city amenities can be part of that equation, Tharp said.

"I believe if you provide the activities they'll come," Tharp said.

NW News on 08/02/2015

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