‘Parked’ improvements
White County cities invest in community recreation
From new swim centers to freshened-up ball fields, the cities of White County take pride in their parks programs. City parks provide citizens with great ways to enjoy the indoors and outdoors, and with new facilities and offerings, each city’s parks are unique destinations for recreation. The following is a look at only some of the improvements that have been made to these parks.
BEEBE
Last year, the city of Beebe invested more than $300,000 in its parks. One of the biggest improvements from those funds was the repaving of the parking lot for the Beebe baseball and softball fields. “[The repaving] actually added some parking spaces,” said Lynn Hatcher, parks director. “The ballparks look a lot better.” The Beebe ball fields also have new infields. There are seven playable fields and five practice fields. The quantity of baseball and softball fields helps out when the city hosts tournaments, Hatcher said. The city hosts about four tournaments each year. The city also built a new bathroom facility between fields 5 and 6, along with a new basketball court. At Lunnie Park, the city repaved the parking lot, added glass backboards to the basketball court and repaved the court. New landscaping was added around the park’s bathroom. Hatcher said the city is also working on a grant to put in new playground equipment at Lunnie Park. At Taylor Park, the city added a pavilion and a grill that can be used for reunions and birthday parties. A basketball court was also repaved. The city has a pool at the ballpark that Hatcher said is
very popular. Other parks include Daniel Park, which has a pavilion and a gazebo, and Fireman’s Park, which has a large playground and a pavilion. “It’s very important to have something for the kids to do now,” he said. “I think [the parks] are a vital part of Beebe.”
SEARCY
The residents of Searcy are getting ready to reach new heights. The Parks and Recreation Department is constructing a new HyPar Net playground at the Searcy Events Center. Parks and Recreation Director Mike Parsons said the new playground equipment will have more of a “Ninja Warrior” atmosphere than traditional playground equipment. “All of our parks have recently updated playgrounds except one,” he said. “All of our playgrounds are aimed at younger children. We’ve had a lot of requests from adolescents and older kids and even adults to make something they could use also. It pushed us in that direction.” In February, the Searcy Parks and Recreation Department took over the Rialto Movie Theater in downtown Searcy. The landmark structure shows second-run movies each night, and Parsons said that taking over the theater was a challenge for the department, but the reception from the community has been overwhelmingly positive. “We’ve had almost 10,000 people come through [the theater] since February,” he said. “It’s definitely a learning experience, but the community has really embraced it and gotten on board with it.” The new Searcy Swim Center opened at the end of October. Parsons said the swim center has become a popular destination in the city. He said that by this time, the department was expecting maybe 2,000 to 4,000 members but that the swim center has more than 7,000 members. “There was a need for it [in the community],” he said. The Searcy Swim Center has an indoor, eight-lane multipurpose competition pool and an indoor therapy pool. Outside, there is a zero-depth-entry pool as well. Parsons said that in the future, he hopes the outdoor area can be expanded.
ROSE BUD
A new Veterans Memorial was added to Rose Bud City Park last year. The memorial, which includes two benches, two flagpoles and a monument, honors the veterans who served in the United States military and
those who gave their lives. The monument also has bricks engraved with the names of service members who died in combat. Nick Cartwright said the idea for the monument was part of a project he and a friend worked on for the EAST Initiative in high school. “We had the idea to do a veterans memorial because we both have veterans in our families, and Rose Bud didn’t have anything,” he said. Cartwright said Rose Bud has several veterans from the area, including Army Staff Sgt. Nicky Bacon, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor. “We didn’t have anything to really honor these people,” Cartwright said. While he was in high school, Cartwright said, the project never really got off the ground, but after he graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway in 2016, he revisited the idea. Cartwright said he raised funds from members of the community, held fundraisers and got some small grants from the Rural Community Alliance and the Arkansas Department of Heritage. Some of the money was also donated to pay for labor and materials, he said. The Rose Bud City Park has a covered pavilion that can be rented for events. For the kids, there is a variety of playground equipment.