Decatur receives grant from Arkansas State Parks
DECATUR — Over the past four years, Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp, James Boston, Cassie Elliot and the Decatur City Council have worked to improve Decatur’s park system so that Decatur area families can have places to spend quality time together.
One project city officials dreamed of having in Decatur was an aquatic center at Veterans Park. This aquatic center would reduce the use of and or replace the aging pool at City Park. Now the city is one step closer to realizing this dream, thanks to a matching grant from Arkansas State Parks.
Tharp went to Jacksonville on Oct. 28, 2019, to compete with other cities in Arkansas for a share of a $2,000,000 grant project funded through the ASP. In early January, Tharp, Boston and other city officials met with representatives of that organization at Veterans Park for a tour of the proposed improvement sites.
“We selected a spot that is very conducive to the playground area and also to the midway for the Barbecue and any other event that we may have set up on Pat Street at Veterans Park,” Tharp explained. “Water and sewer are accessible to the site. Parking will be developed on the south side of Pat Street directly west of the “Bunker” (new chicken hut) where we cook and sell chicken for the Barbecue. This will be used for overflow for soccer practice and game days and other events.”
According to Meg Matthews, public information coordinator with Arkansas State Parks, “More than $2,000,000 in grants were handed out to 29 communities to improve outdoor recreation. Arkansas
State Parks held a reception for the recipients of the FUN Park Grant and Outdoor Recreation Matching Grant Programs at the Department of Heritage on Jan. 27. The mission of this grant program is to advocate for public outdoor recreation throughout Arkansas by providing local communities with planning and financial assistance.”
Arkansas State Parks offer two different grant programs, matching grants and FUN Park Grants. Both are intended to assist cities and counties to improve outdoor recreation within their local communities.
Soon after the meeting with state officials at Veterans Park, Tharp was contacted with a piece of news he was not expecting since these grants are hard to get at times.
“To our amazement, pleasure, surprise, the city of Decatur was selected as one of the 2020 recipients of the Department of Heritage grant,” said Tharp. “Something I learned from that conversation was that we as a city can involve the community in several ways, which we are going to do. If anybody wants to donate time, labor, equipment to the project that is in support of the splash pad itself, we can help them get a tax credit.”
The city will be keeping track of all volunteer hours to the project, as well as setting up a special account at Grand Savings Bank of Decatur for anyone who wishes to donate to the Veterans Park project.
For more information, contact the Decatur city clerks office at 479-7523912.