Parks department hopes to create parks with bond approval

NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Soccer nets sit July 3 on city property at Mount Hebron Road and Garrett Road where a new park may be built. The site is near Janie Darr Elementary and several subdivisions.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Soccer nets sit July 3 on city property at Mount Hebron Road and Garrett Road where a new park may be built. The site is near Janie Darr Elementary and several subdivisions.

ROGERS -- The western portion of the city needs more greenspace to keep pace with the growing population, officials say.

They're asking voters to approve a bond issue that would pay for a new park, renovation of two parks and a new maintenance center, said Jim White, Parks and Recreation director. Other projects include streets, a fire station and police equipment for a total bond issue estimated at $240 million.

Bond issue

Rogers residents will vote Aug. 14 on a $299.5 million bond issue to pay for projects in four areas. Early voting starts Aug. 7. The fifth question on the ballot asks voters to renew a 1 percent sales tax to pay the bonds. The renewal must pass for any of the projects to be funded. Estimated costs and projects are:

• $178 million for street improvements

• $59.5 million to refinance debt

• $41 million for parks and recreation

• $11.5 million for police department

• $9.5 million for fire department.

Source: Staff report

Voters will decide next month whether to extend a 1 percent sales tax to pay for the capital projects and pay off an existing bond issue. The new issue, if approved, would continue a 2011 bond issue refinanced in 2015 by extending the 1 percent sales tax.

The Parks and Recreation Department would get an estimated $41 million.

A typical city in the U.S. has one park for every 2,277 residents, according to the National Recreation and Parks Association. Rogers has 65,000 residents and 19 city parks. The city needs nine additional parks to meet the average.

City officials see a need for additional parks as the population grows, said Ben Cline, city spokesman.

"We create parks as land becomes available. We bought the land for Mount Hebron back in the 2011 bond and now we're coming back in 2018 with Frisco and Northwest Park," Cline said.

The new park would be built in the west area of the city at the intersection of Mount Hebron and Garrett Road on 77 acres. The city wants to make it a park because it's in a fast-growing area, White said.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHARLIE KAIJO Anthony Sager of Rogers pushes Dylan Sager, 2, on a swing Saturday at Horsebarn Park in Rogers. Rogers is gearing up for a bond vote that would give $35.5 million to the parks department.

Natural topography divides the property into two and would be used to split the park, he said.

"The front half of the property up by the road is pretty flat and that's where you will see amenities that you would normally think about in a park," White said.

The front would include playgrounds, sports fields and a pavilion with removable walls that would be able to be used year round.

The other half of the park would be more passive, White said.

"There's a really nice pond on the property and some absolutely beautiful trees," he said. "This is the open-space type park, with green space trails. We might have some areas for Frisbee golf or maybe a hammock park."

This type of park is best able to serve different types of people, said Jim Coffman, a landscape architect and visiting associate professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

"When you're trying to plan a park system, the goal is to provide as much variety as possible," Coffman said. "You want to be able to serve people looking for both active and passive types of parks."

The Parks Department also plans to renovate Northwest Park, which is the city's oldest sports field park.

"We're looking at making eight fields and upgrading the batting cage facility" for baseball and softball, White said. "In other words, we will probably remove what's there and make a new one."

The tennis courts would be relocated to Mount Hebron Park, White said. The city shares 10 tennis courts with Rogers Heritage High School and eight with Rogers High School that are open to the public when not being used by the schools.

"We have downtown tennis courts. We have tennis courts at Rogers High School, and I think this is a great opportunity to now have tennis courts a little further west," he said.

Creating Mount Hebron Park and renovations to Northwest Park would cost about $15 million each, Cline said.

The final park renovation would be downtown's Frisco Park, which would get $6 million from the bond issue.

The city received a $805,668 grant in late 2017 from the Walton Family Foundation for design services for Frisco Park and a $1 million foundation grant for trail improvements across the city. The city chose Chicago-based firm Ross Barney Architects, and the company has worked with community development, street and park staff for a few months, White said.

The design firm proposed a park that is longer than it is wide.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHARLIE KAIJO Brynn Sager, 7, and Dylan Sager, 2, of Rogers play Saturday at Horsebarn Park in Rogers. Rogers is gearing up for a bond vote that would give $35.5 million to the parks department.

"I think it's going to look totally different than anything we might have thought of ourselves and is going to be new and fresh and help revive downtown. People just need to be ready for things to maybe look a bit different than they do right now."

The last item marked for bond money is to move the maintenance facility, which takes up one-fourth of Northwest Park. Relocation of the building would cost $1.3 million.

White said the proposed projects would give residents the parks they deserve.

"We want diverse parks, and we're trying to continue the growth of our parks around the city to where they're handy, user friendly, efficient, well lit and safe," he said.

City officials need to look at how different cultures and residents use parks, said Noah Billig, an assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Arkansas.

"Variety is good, and, in order to achieve this, you need to go to different areas and different types of organizations in the city to get feedback," Billig said.

Coffman agreed.

"Planning and designing a park makes a community figure out what they're about and what they want to be known for," he said.

The Parks Department could begin working on the first stages within weeks after the election and start site work by next year, White said.

NW News on 07/23/2018

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