|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Eva Walker gets a facelift
In spite of the nasty winter weather the area has experienced lately, the Warrenton Parks and Recreation Department is planning for the sunny days that will, eventually, arrive.
Work is nearing completion on a nearly two-year, $310,000 project to dramatically improve the facilities at Eva Walker Park, said Town Manager Ken McLawhon.
The two-phased upgrade plan began in the spring of 2007 when town crews addressed grading at the park, installed new lights and asphalt walking trails, and improved the Alexandria Pike entrance. That work set the stage for the more obvious improvements.
Installation of two new play sets began in December and, because of weather delays, took the better part of the month, said parks and rec director Ralph Baird.
The equipment, though, was worth the wait, Baird said. One set is designed specifically for children ages 2-5 while the other, separated by a trail, is set up for kids 5-12, he said.
“The work is being done now so that in the spring time it will be ready for the kids to have at it,” Baird said.
And, he said, the slumping economy helped the town get a better deal on the play sets from the manufacturer.
“The $10,000 discount went to a $18,000 discount,” Baird said.
“We were able to have a value-added opportunity to get some nice equipment and we were also able to save a little bit of money,” McLawhon added. “The playground is quite an improvement.”
While the playground will surely be a draw for the community, the town invested a ton of time and money into making the park's Horner Street entrance more easily accessible, addressing the steep slope with new concrete steps. Work on the Horner Street access improvements began in November and should be wrapped up in the next week or so, said Bo Tucker, the town's director of public works, noting that some parts of the project, like landscaping, will wait for warmer weather.
Upgrades to the town's most visible park were originally part of a three-phase plan that “morphed into two phases,” McLawhon said.
Councilmen "Dennie Sutherland and Sam Tarr have been inspirational and were the big political push for getting the funding to make this happen,” Baird added.
McLawhon said that town officials are considering a reopening celebration that may include moving the plaque honoring Eva Walker to a more prominent location in the park.
You must be logged in to post a comment.