BENTONVILLE -- The newly constructed restrooms and concession stand at Citizens Park will open when the fall soccer season starts in August, said David Wright, parks and recreation director.
Teams used the three full-size multipurpose fields last fall, a few months after the Bentonville Community Center opened in June 2015. There weren't outside restroom facilities or concessions, and people used portable restrooms.
Bentonville Community Center
The Community Center sits on nine of 35 acres at 1101 SW Citizens Circle. The remaining 24 is Citizens Park. The building costs $16.1 million. The Walton Family Foundation donated $2 million. The Bentonville Public Schools, Walmart Foundation, Community Care Foundation and Advertising and Promotion Commission gave $1 million each. The city paid for the rest through money saved and bond money. Officials are seeking various methods of funding, including grants and fundraising, for features of Citizens Park.
Source: Staff Report
Pick-It Construction began the four-month, $314,979 restroom and concession stand project this spring, according to city documents. The City Council approved the final change order at its June meeting.
The fields have been used to accommodate the growing soccer programs, Wright said.
The adult recreational league has 40 teams with an average of 15 players on each. The league plays twice a week. The youth soccer program for ages 3 to 16 had 2,250 players this spring, Wright said.
Soccer teams also still play on the Memorial Park fields.
The fields and their parking lots were the first steps in building Citizens Park, the 24-acres around the Community Center. Officials are planning the next stages of work.Construction of a 10-foot-wide, one-mile, hard-surface trail should start within two to three months, Wright said.
"I feel pretty good that it will be in by the end of the year and available for use shortly after Jan. 1," he said.
The trail will be called Citizens Park Trail and will circle the Community Center's grounds. It will connect to the Heritage Trail on Southwest I Street as well as to the neighborhoods on the center's west and south sides.
It will also provide the center's patrons with a safe trail within Citizens Park. Now, people walk, run and bike outside on the road that circles the building.
The project is estimated to cost $348,000 and will be paid for with a $75,000 Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department grant and the remaining balance left from the Community Center's furniture and fixture's budget.
Citizens Park could see several additions in 2017, pending available money. Amenities on the list include a soft-surface trail, an inclusive playground, a large pavilion and an outdoor amphitheater.
The city applied for $96,800 from the state's Recreational Trails Program to help build a $122,210 soft-surface, single-track trail that will more or less run parallel to the hard-surface trail. The Walton Family Foundation agreed to provide a $25,410 grant to cover the rest of the cost.
Construction on the trail could happen next year if the grant is awarded, Wright said.
Designs for an inclusive playground are underway. It will be at the park's southwest corner.
All of the city's playgrounds are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but that doesn't mean they're easy for children with disabilities to use, Wright said earlier this year.
The playground will be a place where children of all abilities can interact and play alongside one another, he said.
Parks and Recreation Department officials had a brainstorming session with residents in April about what types of features they want in the playground. There will be another session, probably in October, once a few conceptual designs are compiled, Wright said.
A cost won't be known until designs are closer to completion, but officials are looking to raise money so they can build it more quickly. The Bentonville Breakfast Lions Club already gave $20,000 and has pledged to help lead the fundraising efforts, said Terry Franklin, club treasurer.
"We're just a little pea in the pod," he said. "We thought if we made a donation, maybe other civic clubs would make a donation."
Franklin said the club is interested in continuing to support the project and might do more fundraisers for it in the future.
Wright plans to request money in the 2017 budget for a pavilion for the park's northwest corner and for a small amphitheater on the building's back side.
"That's a big step," he said of the 2017 wish list. "That'd be a big accomplishment if we could get that done."
Eight to 12 tennis courts would then be the remaining large project left for development. A parking lot and restrooms would be included.
"I think we're several years away from that," Wright said.
Citizens Park is the Parks and Recreation Department's first priority from a park development standpoint, Wright said. The intention is for it to be the Memorial Park of the south and west parts of the city, which lacked parks and green space.
"That's wonderful because we don't have anything out here," said Lesley Evans, center member.
She and her husband, Steve, live within walking distance of the center and said they've been impressed with the center's quality. The park will be great for the community, especially for the southwest part of town, they said.
"We live so far from downtown. Everything's happening downtown, but this is where all the population growth is," Lesley Evans said.
NW News on 07/09/2016