BENTONVILLE -- A Walton Family Foundation grant will allow the Parks and Recreation Department to develop its next master plan a year ahead of schedule.
The City Council on June 28 accepted a $200,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation to create the plan.
Parks and programming
The Bentonville Parks and Recreation Department’s number of parks grew from 13 in 2007 to 19 in 2016.
The department, which didn’t offer any recreational programming in 2007, now offers a variety of youth and adult programs. For a list and more information, visit www.playbentonville….
Source: Staff report
The industry standard is to develop a new master plan every 10 years, said David Wright, parks and recreation director. The Parks Department adopted its last master plan in 2007.
"I think we went well beyond what we said we were going to do," Wright said of the 2007 plan.
The plan outlined $3.5 million of improvements to the city's parks and green spaces, $2.7 million of which were at Memorial and Phillips parks.
It also listed several contingency amenities to be built when money became available. Among those were a $52,000 dog park, a $1 million ice rink/splash pad and $2.4 million recreation center.
The bond issue of 2007, which gave the Parks Department $15 million, and community partnerships allowed the city to spend closer to $40 million on amenities over the past decade.
The Bark Park was built at the city's north end, the ice rink/splash pad was built at Lawrence Plaza, and the capstone development was the $15.8 million Bentonville Community Center, which opened in the southwest part of the city in June 2015.
Several other enhancements and amenities have been made or added during the last nine years. Many, such as the Razorback Greenway, Gilmore Park and Austin-Baggett Park as well as downtown square improvements, weren't included in the 2007 master plan.
Wright said he believes changes in the city and the Parks Department helped the city surpass the goals of the last master plan. Mayor Bob McCaslin was just elected into office, and Wright was hired as director in October 2008.
There was only the director and maintenance staff when Wright took the department's helm. There was also no recreational programming. Wright now has a staff of 32 full-time employees and 103 part-time and seasonal employees, not including contract labor such as umpires and fitness instructors.
The number of years of parks and recreation experience in the department now is hundreds rather than dozens, Wright said.
Parks and recreation play a huge role in an area's quality of life, McCaslin said. Quality of life teamed with a great school system and availability of jobs are the three characteristics of a successful area, he said.
A parks master plan is crucial in identifying and prioritizing needs, he said.
A master plan also reduces investment risk by signaling where a community is headed, said Ted Abernathy, managing partner of Economic Leadership in Raleigh, N.C. He was a consultant on development plans for the Northwest Arkansas Council, Springdale Chamber of Commerce and Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.
"It sends a very clear message about what the priorities of a community are and allows private investors to understand where public money is going to go," he said.
Availability of skilled training is at the top of the list when it comes to economic development, but quality of life allows places to differentiate themselves, Abernathy said. Recreation's role in quality of life has increased in recent years, he said.
"Millennials are very active as a group," he said, noting it is a national trend. "You don't find near as many young people who are willing to discount what a community has in terms of recreation these days. Back in my day, if you had softball fields you were in business. Then 20 years later, if you had soccer fields for the kids you were in business. Today it's a wide variety of things, and being outdoors and active is really important to people."
LaQuatra Bonci Associates of Pittsburgh will develop the plan. A contract hasn't been signed yet, but the grant should cover the cost, officials said. The firm was selected for its unique product, maintenance specialist and experience developing fundraising guidelines, Wright said. He said the maintenance specialist can recommend changes to the department's maintenance operations to make them more efficient, which could lead to adding more park amenities without having to increase staff.
The master plan ultimately gives officials guidance on what citizens want, Wright said. Ideas gathered in public meeting sessions will be prioritized with an estimated cost for each.
It will take nine to 10 months to develop the plan. Officials anticipate launching the process shortly after Labor Day. A steering committee of seven to nine people will lead it.
A series of public meetings and meetings with specialized groups -- bikers, runners, master gardeners, etc. -- will be held until Thanksgiving. The plan will be fine-tuned over the winter and spring with the hope of presenting it to the public around May 2017.
NW News on 07/05/2016