FAYETTEVILLE -- City officials hope a state grant will help pay for a slight reroute of the nature trail at Lake Fayetteville.
Members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Monday recommended applying for a Recreational Trails Program grant through the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
At A Glance
Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
Also on Monday, members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board elected Richie Lamb as board chairman and David Priest as board vice chairman for the upcoming year.
Source: Staff Report
The grant application, due April 1, still must be approved by the City Council.
Byron Humphry, parks maintenance superintendent, said up to $500,000 could be used to buy materials needed for two bridges and a boardwalk spanning about 750 feet of the 7-mile dirt path that encircles Lake Fayetteville.
"If we get the grant, we could build a better boardwalk that would last much longer," Humphry said.
Parks officials plan to use Boy Scout or other volunteer labor to actually reroute the section of trail on the southeast end of the lake.
The trail is popular among area off-road cyclists and runners.
Its reroute is needed after the City Council in September approved a revised lease agreement with the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks.
The botanical garden's master plan shows the organization's leasehold with the city extending into an area on the southeast side of Lake Fayetteville where the nature trail runs.
Botanical garden representatives want to eventually fence off their leasehold and utilize a concrete bridge over Hilton Creek that's currently part of the nature trail.
The boardwalk would also raise a section of the trail that's often wet and muddy after it rains.
Humphry said the highway department will likely announce grant awards this fall.
He said, if Fayetteville is among grant recipients, construction on the realigned section of trail could begin next winter.
"We're just trying to get the preliminary permissions undertaken right now," Humphry said.
On Monday, he reiterated a pledge parks officials made when the City Council approved the botanical garden's revised lease agreement. He said trail construction would take place before the botanical garden begins building new amenities on land it leases from the city.
The botanical garden's 2028 master plan envisions eight new garden areas, three parking lots and five buildings, including a 17,000-square foot visitors center and 6,700-square-foot event pavilion, on 37 acres south and southeast of Lake Fayetteville.
Members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board unanimously recommended applying for the Recreational Trails Program grant Monday.
"I like it," Phillip Watson, board chairman said. "It looks good."
Joel Walsh can be reached by email at jwalsh@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAJoel.
NW News on 02/03/2015