Bentonville's Citizens Park continues to develop

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF
Josie Riethmaier, 6, sits in the center as her friends spin a playground feature on Friday Nov. 11, 2016 during her birthday party at Wildwood Park in Bentonville. Bright Field Middle School students helped redesign the playground at the park, which reopened this week.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF Josie Riethmaier, 6, sits in the center as her friends spin a playground feature on Friday Nov. 11, 2016 during her birthday party at Wildwood Park in Bentonville. Bright Field Middle School students helped redesign the playground at the park, which reopened this week.

BENTONVILLE -- The city's southwest area is getting more outdoor amenities with work on a pavilion and amphitheater stage planned at Citizens Park.

Twenty-four acres surrounded the Community Center when it opened in June 2015. The city added multipurpose fields in the fall of 2015. A restroom and concession facility followed last year.

Bentonville Community Center

The Bentonville Community Center is at 1101 S.W. Citizens Circle. For more information, visit www.playbentonville….

Source: Staff Report

Next comes the 14,440-square-foot pavilion on the park's northwest corner along with a 15-space parking lot and a circular stage for the amphitheater next to the center's west side.

The City Council on Tuesday approved hiring Morrison Shipley to design, bid and oversee construction of the project for $20,540.

Citizens Park is uniquely suited for the southwest corner of the city as growth in the area has outpaced the city's ability to produce parks and green space, Ward 3 Alderman Bill Burckart said Wednesday.

"Having different amenities for pedestrians and bikes makes it a live-work area," he said. "That's want we're trying to do throughout town."

The project is expected to be bid this summer with construction starting in the fall, said David Wright, Parks and Recreation director. The city has $400,000 budgeted for it.

The pavilion will be the same as the one in Orchards Park, except its columns will be framed with red brick instead of stone, he said.

Citizens Park additions will also include trails, an inclusive playground and tennis courts.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is reviewing plans for a one-mile, hard surface trail to be built on the perimeter of the park. Citizens Park Trail will connect to the Heritage Trail on Southwest I Street as well as to the neighborhoods on the center's west and south sides.

The city received a $75,000 grant from the state to help pay for the $400,000 project.

The city plans a soft surface trail as well around the perimeter, but it must wait for the hard surface trail and playground to be built. It's probably at least two years before work on the the soft surface trail begins, Wright said.

"I think it will be great, especially the mile-loop," said Gail Petersen, a Bentonville resident.

Petersen, a Community Center member, was finishing up an outdoor run with some friends Wednesday afternoon.

The trail will be great, especially for people who participate in the center's fitness challenges, which one of her friends was doing Wednesday. The task was to complete a mini-triathlon.

"She did the bike, we just ran three miles, and she's coming back to swim," Petersen said.

Parks and Recreation officials are collecting comments on the inclusive playground. Conceptual drawings and input cards are displayed on a table in the entry of the center. They will be there until Friday.

Wright said he should have a better idea on the timeline for the tennis courts later this year.

The development of Citizens Park is being largely paid for with one-time fees it charges developers when they build. Projects won't begin unless all the money needed is available, he said.

Citizens Park will become the Memorial Park of the city's south, Wright said.

"Memorial Park serves so many people (with) so many different activities," he said. "That's what Citizens Park will have the ability to do once it's built out."

NW News on 03/02/2017

Upcoming Events