Rogers council approves Walton Family Foundation grant

NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Railyard Park, formerly Frisco Park, in downtown Rogers will be redeveloped after the Planning Commission gave approval Tuesday. The new park is to span both sides of the railroad tracks and will include a new stage.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Railyard Park, formerly Frisco Park, in downtown Rogers will be redeveloped after the Planning Commission gave approval Tuesday. The new park is to span both sides of the railroad tracks and will include a new stage.

ROGERS -- Rogers will receive a $547,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation for a downtown trail.

"It will cover all of the bicycle route in the internal portion of the Frisco Park," said John McCurdy, community development director for the city. "And so, from one end of the park to the other end of the park and then toward the south side of the park, it moves over toward Arkansas Street."

The grant covers associated lighting and signs, he said.

The city is in the process of renovating Railyard Park, formerly Frisco Park. McCurdy said the grant also will pay for half of the cost of upgrading the rest of the Railyard Loop, the bike trail connecting downtown Rogers to the Razorback Greenway in two spots.

"The objective to all of this is for the people who are currently riding on the Razorback Greenway that the Rogers downtown loop will be a seamless part of that overall greenway infrastructure," McCurdy said.

The city will contribute $186,000.

"The Railyard Loop Trail offers an opportunity to complete the connection of downtown Rogers to the Razorback Regional Greenway," Luis Gonzalez, spokesman for the Walton Family Foundation, wrote in an email as to why the foundation is helping pay for the project.

The City Council unanimously voted to accept the grant.

The council voted 7-1, with council member Mark Kruger opposed, to change rules for the city's Public Arts Commission.

McCurdy said the commission will be allowed to have seven, instead of five, members and be allowed to form committees regarding arts and culture. The commission will provide recommendations to the council for approval.

Rogers held its meeting through Zoom, a videoconferencing service, in light of the covid-19 pandemic. Rogers gave city officials, the press and the public the option of coming to City Hall to attend the meeting. All but one council member attended via Zoom. Mayor Greg Hines, who was at City Hall, said no members of the public came to the meeting in-person.

NW News on 03/25/2020

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