The Fayette County Commission on March 8 unanimously approved amenity additions at Kenwood Park in north Fayette and McCurry Park east of Fayetteville.
One of the improvements at Kenwood Park included the construction of a new pavilion facility at a cost of $96,000, with $17,500 allocated for tables, benches and trash cans.
County staff said the Kenwood Parks Master Plan was established to make phased, progressive improvements to the park that would meet the needs of the community. Although the park currently has no organized programs affiliated with a parks and recreation association, this park gets a lot of use during the week and on the weekends by the local community.
The one existing pavilion stays consistently booked throughout the year with use by the community for various activities. The addition of a new pavilion has been requested and is needed to help overcome some of the scheduling challenges, county staff said.
Also at Kenwood Park, commissioners approved the installation of a rubberized membrane over the existing asphalt track at a cost of $113,067.
Staff said the rubberized membrane will match what currently exists at the McCurry Park track. This type of finished topping on a track is typically associated with competitive track and field events where athletes are looking to improve their times and minimize the opportunity for injury. Staff also noted that the new surface will more conducive to use by older park visitors.
Although this park currently has no organized track and field program, this could potentially provide the opportunity to develop into a second venue that could be used for hosting future track and field events and training, staff said.
A third upgrade at Kenwood dealt with the approval of a new restroom facility in the amount of $168,781.
Reporting on the project, county staff said as a part of the park’s Phase II improvements, an additional tot lot/playground facility was recently added. Other Phase II Improvements included adding a new restroom and pavilion in close proximity to the new playground to provide additional opportunities for public use during times of heavy park use. This proposed restroom will be of the same construction and appearance as the existing restrooms to provide a consistent look throughout the park.
Commissioners on March 8 also approved the construction of a new restroom facility at the softball fields at McCurry Park for a total of $187,888.
Noting that the current restroom facility does not comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities) requirements, staff said over the years, Parks & Recreation has received numerous inquiries from the recreation commission regarding the lack of and inadequacies of available restroom stalls at softball to service the leagues utilizing these fields for practice, games and tournaments. The proposed restroom facility will be a stand-alone facility providing three toilets and two urinals on the men’s side and five toilets on the women’s side, including one stall on each side that complies with current ADA requirements.
All projects were competitively bid.
