New town park being built in Garfield

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

— A playground with a slide, climbing wall, rung ladder and crawl tunnel, a pavilion and a half basketball court are scheduled for the new city park to be built on the land adjacent to City Hall and Station 1 of Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department at Garfield.

“I feel like its a nice compliment to the community building,” Mayor Laura Hamilton said.

Those amenities are being paid for with a $45,000 grant from the state, according to Hamilton, who said she hopes individuals and businesses will contribute to the park by purchasing benches or garden spots. She said a tree could be planted in memory of someone, as well.

“We were notified in April that we had been accepted for the grant,” Hamilton said. The city has received $5,000 so far and has ordered the equipment.

The park will be completely handicap accessible.

The city will purchase about 100 feet of fence to erect on the highway side of the park for safety.

Councilman Gene Nowak will oversee the construction as he did City Hall, which is dedicated to his honor.

Kyle Recreation of Little Rock will install the equipment. It was one of several companies approved by the state for the job,Hamilton said, adding that there are employees in Bentonville.

A parks committee has been working for about a year and a half as they applied for the grant and planned the park in line with the regulations of the grant, Hamilton said. The committee consists of Hamilton, Lydia Nowak, Malania Carter, Gayla Shuster and Josh Meister.

Hamilton said she went to Jacksonville, Ark., last year to make a presentation in seeking the grant which is from the Fun Park Grant Program from the state Department of Parks and Tourism.

News, Pages 1 on 10/06/2010