Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Springdale’s Shaw Park set to open this weekend

- LAURINDA JOENKS

SPRINGDALE — Shaw Family Park is ready for visitors.

The park in the northwest part of town opens this weekend, said Chad Wolf, director of the city Parks and Recreation Department. The 120-acre park is at the corner of West Downum Avenue and Ball Street.

The park boasts two playground­s, an extreme fitness area, tennis courts, a dog park and a splash pad.

It’s unlike other city parks as it has no fields for baseball nor softball, Wolf pointed out.

“It’s a family park,” he said. “It’s a big space Springdale has never really had.”

The grand lawn at the center of the acreage provides an open area for play, he said. It’s also wired so the space could be used for concerts or movies, he said.

The city will have spent about $10 million for constructi­on of the park once all the bills are paid, said Wyman Morgan, director of

Willis Shaw was a pioneer in the long-haul poultry and refrigerat­ed trucking industry.

administra­tion and finance. Members of the Willis Shaw family donated stock to the city to help pay for the constructi­on, which earned the city $488,969 when sold, Morgan said.

Shaw was a pioneer in the long-haul poultry and refrigerat­ed trucking industry.

The city bought the 121 acres from Arvest Bank with money from a 2012 bond issue.

The balance of the cost comes from the 2018 bond issue, which included $21.3 million for parks, Morgan said.

Ball fields and a system for recycling the water in the splash pad might come with a future bond issue, Wolf said.

Workers with Milestone Constructi­on will spend this week cleaning the site, Wolf said. They need to remove fences surroundin­g the playground­s and install heaters in the bathrooms, he said.

Logan Bond, who lives in the Legacy subdivisio­n north of the park, said he plans to walk, fish and bike with his 1-year-old daughter, Addie Grace, and his pug Data.

Walking around the subdivisio­n can be a challenge, he said Monday, while pushing his daughter’s stroller across a dirt lot with no sidewalk.

Nancy Schisler said the park was one of the reasons she and husband, Lyndal, decided to build a home nearby in the Camelot subdivisio­n.

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission will stock two ponds for fishing, Wolf said.

Three trails cover almost 3 miles in and around the park, Wolf said. Another trail goes through the forested area on the northeast side.

The splash pad is the biggest in the city, with others at the Randal Tyson Recreation­al Complex and the C.L. “Charlie” and Willie George Park, Wolf said. So is the dog park, which includes wooden features for obedience training.

The playground­s feature swings, slides and climbing equipment and a soft spongy floor of “rubber mulch,” Wolf said.

Three mounds sit near the northeast playground. “I’m not sure what those are for, but kids will love climbing on them,” Wolf said.

The park also includes 2,100-square-foot maintenanc­e shop for tractors, trucks and mowers. Wolf said three, full-time employees will be based there.

Fire Station No. 9 is under constructi­on on the northwest corner and should go into service in July, said Fire Chief Mike Irwin. The station’s location will increase in importance as more subdivisio­ns are built, he said. The residents will see decreased response times.

The city expects the constructi­on of Station No. 9 to cost slightly over $3 million, Morgan said.

Wolf said this weekend will be a soft opening, with a grand opening planned May 1. That celebratio­n will include Station No. 9.

 ?? (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler) ?? Chase Wilhite of Centerton cleans a sign Monday at the Shaw Family Park in Springdale. Wilhite works for Best Sign Group, the company that installed all the signs at the park. Go to nwaonline.com/210330Dail­y/ for today’s photo gallery.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler) Chase Wilhite of Centerton cleans a sign Monday at the Shaw Family Park in Springdale. Wilhite works for Best Sign Group, the company that installed all the signs at the park. Go to nwaonline.com/210330Dail­y/ for today’s photo gallery.

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