Parks Director Justin Huss told commissioners April 17 he attended the Outdoor Travel Show in Denver, then went to several bike parks and discussed signage and maintenance issues with their staff. He said Eureka Springs has better trails, and folks in Colorado have already heard about trail activity in Northwest Arkansas.
At Lake Leatherwood City Park, one of the cabins sustained major plumbing difficulties prompting some jackhammer work on the slab. Campsites continue to get attention, and Huss said the results of investments at LLCP on the cabins, campsites and boat fleet is looking very good. March financials at LLCP were up significantly over 2017 numbers in spite of inclement weather, and with warm weather just now arriving, Huss is confident 2018 will be a year for the record books.
Considerable work is going on in Basin Park to stabilize the Doughboy statue. Huss said the concrete around it is being cut away, rebar put into place, metal grating removed on three sides with more concrete poured to replace it. The grates will be repurposed and Parks intends to improve stairs to the bandshell.
Huss said events such as the Fat Tire Festival and Outback in the Ozarks continue to expand and have become partnership opportunities for other entities in town.
Thumbnail history
Chair Bill Featherstone provided a timeline related to the history of Parks beginning with the April 1955 date when a 1610.26-acre tract was deeded to the city to be used for public purposes. This property is now called Lake Leatherwood City Park. In 1965, the Arkansas legislature passed enabling legislation allowing communities to establish Parks Commissions, and Eureka Springs city council did so by approving an ordinance in three readings at the last council meeting of 1980. The motion to approve on its first reading was made by alderman Beau Trout who sponsored the ordinance.
Featherstone said the mission statement created soon thereafter stated the commission “will be constantly alert to new opportunities to make public parks an essential component of the tourism economy.”
On December 16, 1997, the area was annexed into the city limits.
Featherstone held up one of the Trails’ maps, printed in partnership with the City Advertising and Promotion Commission, and said it might be the most frequently distributed document in town. He then held up a book published by the Preservation Society called Walk Eureka Springs featuring a walking tours map with historical commentary. He pointed out the Preservation Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has been a loyal partner with Parks in the past, including with the Califf Spring makeover, Basin Park fountain restoration, Doughboy restoration, Crescent Spring restoration and other projects.
He showed a copy of the May issue of Outside magazine featuring an article on Tom and Steuart Walton entitled “Single Track Minds.” The article said the brothers are “trying to do for mountain biking what the family business did for retailing: change everything.” They want Bentonville to become a major cycling destination, and have hired someone who will be responsible for “positioning Northwest Arkansas as a leading region nationwide for the incubation and recruitment of cycling-related brands.”
Other items
- Commissioner Christian Super had volunteered to research cameras the commission could use for making videos and posting them on Youtube. He recommended Parks use what it already has as they learn what they actually want and maybe upgrade later.
- Super mentioned there is a growing trend of yoga aficionados who get out of the studio and into natural settings to practice yoga. He said he would reach out to whoever does this and see if he can get them to start a group at a park in Eureka Springs.
- Super also showed examples of artwork created at skate parks and suggested they try something similar at Harmon Park. Commissioners were impressed, and Huss said the idea fit in well with other art projects planned for Harmon Park, and this kind of “Artreach” gets the community involved. Super will report back.
Next meeting will be Tuesday, May 15, at 6 p.m.