Bryant planning for 20 years of growth for parks and recreation
BRYANT, Ark.- With Bryant’s growing population, park officials said the facilities need to be updated and new facilities added for family fun activities.
“We’ve been working on this master plan for two years now in partnership with our community and McClelland Engineering,” Bryant Interim Parks Director Keith Cox said.
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Officials said the master plan will help set precedence for how Bryant Parks and Recreation will maintain and grow over the next 20 years if adopted at the next Bryant City Council Meeting on April 30 at 6:30 p.m.
The council met Tuesday night for a workshop that discussed the “proactive 20-year master plan” to ask questions before the meeting, where they will vote to adopt it.
“There were about 44 people on a steering committee that met over 18 months and provided input, and that included city officials, but more importantly, people from the community who told us what they wanted and what the priorities were,” Bryant Chairman of Parks and Recreation Richard McKeown said. “Then, more than 1100 people responded to a survey about what they wanted.”
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Bryant had to overcome a failed A&P tax initiative to help cover some of the park and recreation costs.
“Despite the fact that the A&P initiative didn’t pass last year, we still think that it is important to have a plan to chart our growth in a purposeful and intentional way that is responsive to what the community has told us,” McKeown said.
Funding is a challenge they are still working to overcome.
The first proposed project of the 20-year master plan is to make a connector trail between Alcoa 40 and Mills Parks.
“We did receive a metro plan tap grant for $200,000, and hopefully, McClelland is currently working on a design, and we hope to have that by the end of the month,” Cox said.
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The construction is set to be completed by the summer of 2025.
“One of the great things about a growing city where people want to come and live and work is having a vibrant parks committee, vibrant parks department, and vibrant parks,” McKeown said.
Another hope is to have a first responders park next to Springhill Fire Station 3, featuring two splash pads, a water play area and a memorial wall in honor of all first responders.
“It’s a public splash pad that will be free to the community. It will be on the north side of the interstate, which we have a large population there but unfortunately not a lot of parks,” Cox said.
Other items in the plan include repairs and maintenance on current facilities and adding more lights for safety at the current parks.
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The master plan, in its current state, is over 300 pages long. It outlines the growth and compares Bryant to other national parks to help boost the community experience.
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