Burns Park lightsplea goes to council
Two soccer fields and four tennis courts at Burns Park will have lights added through a request by the city's Parks and Recreation Department to be considered by the North Little Rock City Council on Monday.
The estimated cost of the lighting is $128,000, according to legislation for the appropriation, with $82,000 of that amount coming out of the Parks and Recreation Capital Improvement Fund, which contains revenue from the city's tax on prepared food, often called the hamburger tax.
The request includes agreements with the North Little Rock Electric Department to provide $11,000 as in-kind services for work to install the lighting, with the Parks Department to cover $47,000 in materials. Half of the $70,000 cost for the additional tennis court lighting -- $35,000 -- is to be paid for by the Arkansas Tennis Association, which also pays for all electric utility charges at the tennis center.
The lighting for the two fields will add to the four fields already with lights at the Burns Park Soccer Complex. The additional lighting is necessary for North Little Rock to be the host site for the 2015 Southern Regional Soccer Tournament next summer. The full week of competition is expected to draw 198 soccer teams throughout the South.
The parks fund expenditure requires the City Council's authorization.
Resolution focuseson River Road work
A portion of River Road closed in 2012 is to receive $70,000 in improvements as part of the River Trail that runs along the Arkansas River, according to a proposed resolution for the North Little Rock City Council to appropriate the money.
The improvements will reduce the width of the closed road and add decorative lighting and landscaping along that portion of the bicycle/pedestrian trail.
The funding will come from the city's $390,000 sale of riverfront property to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to build a boat ramp. Mayor Joe Smith previously announced his plans to use $70,000 from those proceeds for the trail improvements.
The city closed that part of River Road west of the Pike Avenue/Riverfront Drive traffic circle in 2012 to redirect motor vehicle traffic onto Rockwater Boulevard. The closed portion became part of the River Trail.
The city spent $1.2 million to build the quarter-mile Rockwater Boulevard along the former Third Street from the traffic circle to the Rockwater Marina and Riverview at Rockwater apartment developments.
Corvettes will roll in fight vs. cancer
The International Council of Corvette Clubs will hold a Road Rally for a Cure on Friday at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock to raise funds for the fight against cancer.
The road rally is part of the club's convention in North Little Rock this week. The convention also includes car shows, which are free to the public, at 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at the Wyndham Riverfront hotel, 2 Riverfront Place, and U.S. Bank, 1 Riverfront Place.
The road rally will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at the Wyndham and is to end at 10 a.m. at Dickey-Stephens Park, 400 W. Broadway. Cancer survivors from the Corvette Club are scheduled to speak about cancer awareness afterward at the ballpark.
Metro on 07/13/2014