Tampa gets grant for park
Will be across from baseball field
Staff writer
Tampa will have a new city park, thanks in part to a $64,126 grant from the Small Communities Improvement Program of the Kansas Department of Commerce.
Residents have been talking about building a new park for several years, Amber Peterson said Thursday. She is a member of the Tampa PRIDE subcommittee that applied for the grant.
The group also had numerous fundraiser dinners before learning about the grant. The program is intended to help communities with population below 5,000.
“Our current park is where nobody knows where it is,” Peterson said.
The new park will be along Limestone Road across from the city baseball and softball field. The park will include one large and one small piece of playground equipment, a full basketball court with adjustable baskets, a horseshoe pit, and a picnic shelter with grills and tables.
The city plans to erect barricades between the park and ballfield, blocking traffic on game days so children can safely run back and forth without worrying about traffic, Peterson said.
Area farmers and businesses have donated labor and items so the project can meet its required 40 percent contribution for the grant. As examples, some farmers have volunteered to haul gravel to the project, and Agri-Producers, Inc. has offered grass seed, Peterson said.
Work on the park can begin March 1 and must be completed within 18 months to qualify for the grant.
Members of the park committee are Peterson, Greg and Michele Berens, Carla Hajek, Steve Jirak, David Mueller, Donald and Francie Mueller, Monica Svoboda, and Leo Yonda.