SPRINGDALE -- The Tyson family donated more park land to the city. The land on which the Randal Tyson Recreational Complex sits becomes the city's with approval by the City Council during its Feb. 26 meeting.
Mayor Doug Sprouse said the city owned the land on the west side of the park with the Rotary Park and Miracle League fields. But the Tyson family owned the land on the eastern side of the park where the soccer fields and baseball fields are located.
Department earns honors
The Arkansas Turfgrass Association presented its 2018 field of the year award to Springdale’s Parks and Recreation department. The award was given for the fields at the Randal Tyson Sports Complex.
Source: City of Springdale
The city and the Tyson family were in a 25-year lease, which was renewed just a few years ago, Sprouse said.
"I think the agreement was we would pay $1 for 25 years," he said. "But I don't know that we ever paid them. So we may owe them $2," he said, holding up two fingers for emphasis.
Residents approved a $20 million bond issue for parks in 2018. The city has spent $2.2 million since the bonds were sold in May, with $18.6 million remaining, said Wyman Morgan, the city's director of administration and finance.
When announcing plans for the park bond money before the vote, Sprouse said the city staff earmarked $5 million for updates at Randal Tyson.
But, under the terms of the bond, the city couldn't spend bond money for improvements on land it didn't own, Morgan said.
"So the Tyson family graciously offered to donate it to us," Sprouse said. "The Tyson family has been and continues to be a big supporter of the community."
The biggest project planned for the park will make it accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Bill Mock, director of parks and recreation. Other projects include a dog park, reorganized parking and landscaping.
The city also designated $10 million of the bond money to develop the Shaw Family Park in northwest Springdale. The Shaw family gave the city another $5 million to help the development.
The city bought the land for the park with money from the 2012 bond issue, Morgan said.
To this point, the city has invested $340,000 for the engineering services to design the park, he noted.
The original conceptual drawings of the park included four adult softball fields, but these weren't included in the engineering design presented to the Planning Commission for approval.
"Those were just conceptual plans," Sprouse said of the plans first shared with voters. "But you can't spend a lot of money to really know what something's going to cost until the bond is passed," he said. "It's a big unknown."
Sprouse said the drainage planned for the park and surrounding neighborhoods is expensive, but will take care of current drainage problems in the area.
The softball fields are planned for a future project. In the meantime, area teams can use the land for practice or pickup games, he said.
In addition to those big projects, the bond also included extra money for other projects throughout the city parks.
As of November, the city paid $225,000 to buy land for a park and trailhead behind the new animal shelter just east of the Old Missouri Road intersection on Don Tyson Parkway; $129,000 for security cameras in the C.L. "Charlie" and Willie George Park and Murphy Park; $283,000 for lights at Bobby Hopper Park; and $1.9 million for the former All-Star Sports Arena, Morgan tabulated.
The arena will serve as the city's recreation center. The city sold its recreation center to the Springdale School District for $2.2 million, which also went to the purchase of the All-Star building.
The purchase of the arena was unexpected, Sprouse said, but the opportunity presented itself and the center will serve the city for many years to come.
Although the center opened for its first Springdale league games last weekend, renovation of the building to meet the standards of the city will be a long process, Sprouse said.
Money for the upgrades will not come from the bond fund, Sprouse said. The city budgeted $100,000 for upkeep of the smaller recreation center and can use that money for immediate needs, he said.
"We ask the public to patient with us while we go through this process."
NW News on 02/19/2019