Fayetteville's Wilson Park to get new playground

FAYETTEVILLE -- Children will be climbing through new equipment and playing oversized musical instruments in Wilson Park by spring.

The City Council on Dec. 20 approved contracts to build a new playground, a musical playground and redo the entryways to the city's oldest park. The improvements add up to more than $600,000 of work, something park officials say is long overdue.

Renovating the park has been on the city's radar for quite some time, said Ken Eastin, park planner. Thanks to a $150,000 state Outdoor Recreation Grant, a $30,000 donation from a local developer and scrupulous budgeting on the city's part, the 20-some-year-old playground will get an upgrade, he said.

"We are so fortunate to have this budget to work with right now," Eastin said. "It's been accumulating for some time. This has been a major project in the works."

The Parks and Recreation Department set aside about $460,000 for the project. It also had money reserved for paving improvements within the entire parks system and identified Wilson Park as the greatest need, Eastin said. The department has a budget of about $3.6 million for 2017.

Parks receive 1 percent of the city's 2 percent hotel, motel and restaurant tax. The other 1 percent goes to the Advertising and Promotion Commission.

Subtracting the grant money and donation, the city's portion of the project costs will amount to about $424,000. The city will have to hire a contractor to bury three overhead power lines, a requirement of the grant. Parks officials have budgeted about $25,000 for that job, but it could cost less, Eastin said.

The city approved a $506,500 contract with Oklahoma City-based ACS Playground Adventures to build the playground, along with a 10 percent project contingency, totaling $557,150. It also approved a $97,560 contract with T-N-T Inc. out of Van Buren for road and parking improvements at Wilson Park. A 10 percent contingency on that project brings the total to $107,316.

Work on the parking lot is set to begin in January. The two playgrounds have to be demolished before construction can begin on the new ones. Parks officials hope the whole setup will be done by the end of April or early May.

The entryway from West Prospect Street and paved parking off Wilson Street will see significant overhauls. Work includes a new road base and asphalt, curb and gutter and clear parking space delineation featuring parallel parking and a van-accessible spot near the playground.

Boulders currently keep people from parking on the grass where curbs do not. Several landscapers have already claimed the boulders, Eastin said.

Wilson Park will boast the state's first musical playground. Fadil Bayyari, whose family has two parks named after it in Fayetteville and Springdale, along with Bayyari Elementary School in Springdale, made the $30,000 donation in honor of his late son, David Lyle Bayyari.

David Bayyari died in 1990 at the age of 20 after carbon monoxide leaked from the engine of a plane he was on. He had been flying over Florida during a training mission in Daytona Beach, where he attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

City officials agreed to name the musical playground after David. It will feature oversized percussive instruments such as chimes and drums children can beat with their hands or attached mallets.

The main playground will feature two structures, one for children 2 to 5 and the other for children 5 to 12. Eastin said parents with younger and older children have stressed difficulty in keeping a close eye with the two playgrounds being so far apart.

Custom, nature-inspired components will adorn the new playground, including some handmade materials with durable, glass-fiber-reinforced concrete, said Rhonda Salzman-Lynch with Landscape Structures, whose parent company is ACS Playground Adventures. The playground will include a ramp for children of all abilities and a freestanding climbing rock, Salzman-Lynch said. The rubber tile safety surfacing will make it easier to replace worn areas, as opposed to patching rough spots.

"The large, main play structure will feature climbers that look and feel like real boulders, trees and logs; a large net climber; a rustic-looking corrugated steel roof and three custom nature-themed play panels including a Critter Find," she said. "The Critter Find will feature a play panel with a list of animals kids will to have find hidden within the playground."

The entire set will be built to last another 20 years and beyond, Salzman-Lynch said.

"Landscape Structures is an innovator in commercial playground equipment and the quality of our product is top-notch," she said. "I expect this playground to be a one-of-a-kind destination playground for families all over Northwest Arkansas for many, many years to come."

The changes are a welcome addition for 5-year-old Alex Walker of Fayetteville. His aunt, Casie Walker, brought Alex to Wilson Park on Thursday with their friend, Adriana Tisdale of Wichita, Kan.

The playground is "boring," Alex said. He marveled at a rendering of the new digs.

Casie Walker said she frequently brings friends to the park who haven't seen it, like Tisdale. The 40-degree weather on Thursday didn't dissuade the three from meeting a group there to hang out.

"I've always loved this place, especially in the summer," Casie Walker said. "It's my favorite place to go."

The city boasts that the park is its first and oldest. Originally known as City Park in 1906, the 22-acres have gone through changes and additions over the years, according to the city website. It once featured Trent's Pond, where the softball field sits, which served as the area's swimming hole.

A group of businessmen bought the park in the 1920s and added a swimming pool and tourist camp. The city bought that portion of the park in 1944, shortly before author Charles Morrow Wilson sold and donated about 17 acres west of the original park to the city. Wilson asked the park be named in honor of his mother, Mattie Morrow Wilson.

Wilson Park offers something Tisdale said Wichita parks often don't, even without the upcoming improvements.

"The best thing I like about here is the nature," she said.

NW News on 12/27/2016