Mountain Home Mayor Hillrey Adams said Thursday night the city plans to apply for a $250,000 grant in the coming weeks to help build an all-access playground.If approved, the city would use the grant money to purchase equipment for an all-access playground at Hickory Park. The new equipment would allow children of all abilities to play at the park.
The city should know by December whether it will be awarded the grant, which is through the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. The grant requires the city to put up a matching amount of its own funds, in-kind labor or a combination of the two.
The mayor said construction on the all-access playground would start in January whether the city was awarded the grant or not.
Adams said, “One way or the other, we’re going to get to work on this and we’re going to have it built and ready to use by May.”
The amount of money awarded to cities through the grant program is determined by the state once applications are submitted. The city has asked for the maximum award of $250,000, but could receive only a portion of that amount should the state choose to do so.
Beginning in September, the city will have sales tax revenue coming in from a pair of sales taxes supporting the city’s Parks Department. One is a half-percent sales tax that is backing $36 million in bonds the city has issued to build a community center and make parks improvements. The other is a quarter-percent sales tax to support the operation and maintenance of the city’s parks. Either one of those revenue steams could be used to build the all-access playground.
Conceptual drawings show that the all-access playground would be built to the west of the Hickory Park park tennis courts. The playground project would also add new restrooms to replace the park’s current facilities, which were built in 1955.
Future plans for the park include adding a parking lot accessible from Dyer Street to the north of the all-access playground and renovating the park’s existing baseball field into an all-access baseball diamond.
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