A nearly $70,000 federal grant will help make improvements to Hillcrest and Linc parks in Poplar Bluff.
City officials announced Tuesday they hope to have the work at Linc and Hillcrest parks completed by the spring.
The Parks and Recreation Department has received a 50/50 grant from the National Park Service, said Director Lanny Corcimiglia. The park department will match the $68,500 in money from NPS’ Land And Water Conservation Fund.
“It’s just going to be really exciting to take a couple of neighborhood parks and give them a good face-lift,” he said.
Both parks are slated to get new playground equipment, new fencing for the baseball fields and redone backstops.
Corcimiglia estimates it has been close to 30 years at least since either park has seen a major upgrade.
“They’re very old,” he said. “We’re shooting for both to be ADA compliant and just offer a better variety than what’s at both parks now.”
The projects will be put out for bid in October, and those bids will help decide what replacement playground equipment is selected.
Corcimiglia said both playgrounds will be enlarged.
Outside of grant funding, he also hopes to expand basketball courts at both playgrounds.
Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission is administering this grant.
The LWCF State & Local Assistance Program provides matching grants for local and state park projects outside national park boundaries, according to a press release from the NPS. LWCF grants are locally determined and competed at the state level through a process designed and managed by state partners. These grants help build and protect a “seamless system of parks” from back-yard to back-country.
LWCF funding is separate from NPS operational appropriations and comes primarily from off-shore oil lease revenue through annual congressional appropriation.