Randy Sandefur left a legacy of 40 years at North Little Rock high school's athletic department.
He coached football, baseball, girls basketball and track, leading the Charging Wildcats to three baseball state championships and one football championship.
Now, Sandefur will start his third week as North Little Rock's Parks and Recreation director after an appointment from Mayor Terry Hartwick.
"I'm learning as we go," he said. "But something we all need to understand here is what I'm doing right now has been going on before I got here. ... Jason Rhodes has done a great job of keeping me up to speed and kind of showing me the ropes."
Rhodes was the interim director after Steve Shields, the previous parks director, retired last month after almost three years.
Sandefur said he has done a similar job before as a Lakewood Property Owners Association parks and recreation director.
"North Little Rock is my home. I've been here all my life and what I'm excited about is the opportunity to be a small part in building back our parks and rec," he said, referring to the March 31 tornado that damaged parts of the city, including Burns Park.
"I'm excited about learning. When you quit learning, you need to stop what you're doing. What's exciting to me is, I really want to learn in this job. ... I'm not be-all, end-all. I'm not that. I'm right shoulder to shoulder with all of our workers here at Parks and Rec."
The biggest challenge so far for Sandefur has been figuring out how to continue rebuilding Burns Park, one of the largest municipal parks in the country at 1,700 acres.
"Our community relies on that park," he said. "We've got to do our due diligence in doing it the right way, rebuilding it back the right way and I think we started off well."
Mike Davis, chief of staff in the mayor's office, and Ember Strange, chief financial officer, gave a cost analysis on the March 31 tornado damage for the city at a City Council meeting on Monday.
Of the $35 million total cost to the city, $12 million will go to parks and recreation.
CrowderGulf Disaster Recovery and Debris Management crews have hauled away 3,484 loads of debris from Burns Park over two months out from the storm date.
The youth baseball fields, tennis center, 18-hole golf course and softball fields are open for use. The 2D Sports Baseball tournament was held last weekend with the help of Darren Austin repairing the turf, Sandefur said.
"Darren has done a really great job with the parks and with all the rain we had over the weekend and shifts of rain," he said. "Jason Rhodes sent some of his workers out there and just got it going, and that's what it takes. It takes everybody in every area to pull together to make this thing work, and we work very well together."
The BMX track, disc golf, tennis center fencing, soldier memorial and soccer fields all remain closed and under rehabilitation.
Four pavilions, the hospitality house and the Arkansas River trail are now open.
The Elite Protection Group security is still set up around the park to stop people from entering blocked roads. Maps are posted throughout the park to let visitors know what is off-limits.
The women's club, parks maintenance building, superintendent's office, RV park office, all Funland amusement park buildings, the baseball maintenance shed, and the BMX concessions all need major renovations, Davis reported.
"There's not one thing over or one person over, better than the other person," Sandefur said. "We're just going to go in there and roll our sleeves up and go to work."
At Monday's meeting, the City Council voted to use Recreational Trails Program funds for the Burns Park River Trail Rehabilitation Project. David Cook, chief city engineer, said the city will have to hire an engineer for the project.
Cook said in an email that the city has applied for federal funds through the Arkansas Department of Transportation's Recreational Trails Program. "It is an 80/20 grant (80% federal, 20% city match)," he wrote. "We have some areas along the Arkansas River Trail on our side of the river that are in need of repair. If awarded, the money will go towards rehabbing these areas."
Sandefur said it's still dangerous for visitors in certain areas of the park, but he hopes to have all the baseball fields rebuilt by August before school starts.