Bentonville approves grant for potential park development

Tim Robinson, council member, (left) gives an update on the Pet Resource and Services Steering Committee to the Bentonville City Council Tuesday as Cindy Acree, council member, (right) listens on.
Tim Robinson, council member, (left) gives an update on the Pet Resource and Services Steering Committee to the Bentonville City Council Tuesday as Cindy Acree, council member, (right) listens on.

BENTONVILLE -- The City Council unanimously approved to accept a $494,000 grant Tuesday to determine the feasibility of building 8th Street Gateway Park.

The 34.5 acres is Eighth Street from I Street to Applegate Trail and may be an ideal location to establish a park in west Bentonville, a need established when the Parks Plan was adopted in 2017, said David Wright, Parks and Recreation director.

Council action

Bentonville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:

• Reappointing Joe Haynie for a second five-year term to the Planning Commission effective July 1.

• Reappointing Rod Sanders for a second five-year term to the Planning Commission effective July 1.

• A $263,900 contract with Hawkins-Weir Engineering for a wastewater treatment capital improvement plan.

• Paying $258,750 to Design Workshop for the full design, construction and bid documents for Dave Peel Park.

• Paying $169,180 to Design Workshop to create the Quilt of Parks-Downtown Parks Plan.

• A $28,682 contract with Historic Preservation Associated for a cultural resource survey at Lake Bella Vista Dam Park.

• Increasing the maximum rear yard fence height in downtown neighborhood districts from six to eight feet.

Source: Staff report

The land is owned by Walmart and was appraised at about $1.64 million in 2017, according to Benton County property records.

Wright said the city has been in discussions with Walmart, the nonprofit trail development group Trailblazers and the Walton Family Foundation concerning how the land may best serve area residents.

"It leads us into a grant from the Walton Family Foundation to do a conceptual plan," he said of the $494,000 Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program grant.

"The Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program is helping shape how we use, interact with and experience public spaces," said Jeremy Pate, Walton Family Foundation senior program officer. "We support initiatives that have the potential to build on the region's natural assets by reimagining the possibilities of parks and outdoor playscapes."

Wright stressed the grant is only for a feasibility study, and the city isn't committing to buying the land or accepting any donations of the land.

"Nothing is set in stone," he said of the space being converted into a park. "We're going to try to see if we can get the right answers to tell us whether it needs to be or not."

Wright said all Parks and Recreation projects undergo some form of feasibility study before development, and there's no telling what the potential park could include at this time.

"I think that's the $1 million question," he said, adding the park could feature anything from a playground, to a splash park to sports fields.

Wright said the city has no preconceived notions as to what the park would feature or cost if the city opts to build it.

"Maybe we do nothing with it," he said. "We may let it be idol and let it just be a grove a trees. To people in my field, there's a huge value in that -- especially at the rate at which we're developing land in our community."

Now that the feasibility study is approved, the city's next steps include putting out a request for project proposals to design firms, which will be followed by creating opportunities for the community to help shape what the park may feature.

He said public input for the park's plan would be sought as early as the fall, with the final plan for the space being completed in the first quarter of 2020.

Although the recreational aspects of the park are still a matter of discussion, the land may also serve as the location for Bentonville's future animal shelter, said Tim Robinson, City Council and Pet Resource and Services Steering Committee member.

"It's not 100%, but that is something that group voted on and presented to City Council this spring," he said, explaining the steering committee likes the park's centralized location off a busy thoroughfare, its proximity to the local trail system and the shade the green space's trees provide for dogs and their owners. "We liked the idea of it already having a natural landscape to provide shade," he said.

Wright said the city will be prepared to take next steps if the conceptual plan turns out to be one it wants to pursue.

"If we say that we do want a park in this area, then we've really done all of the homework we need to do to say we're making the best possible decisions, not just for present-day Bentonville, but for Bentonville for generations to come," Wright said.

NW News on 06/26/2019

Upcoming Events