Plans for renovations to Lou Hartfiel Memorial Park have been underway for about a year now, but work is on hold as the city waits for grant funding.
In the early phases of the park renovations, there was some fear that the city may not be chosen to receive grant funding from the National Park Services. As a backup plan, City Clerk April Robinson researched other grants that the city could apply to.
Crescent Springs was awarded the grant money from the National Park Services, but as the approval process is not yet complete, the city decided to apply for another grant. This grant is with the Cabinet for Economic Development and, if approved, would pay for 85% of what the city needs to match the federal grant they already have.
“This is more funds to help the city,” said Mayor Mike Daugherty at Monday’s City Council meeting. “It doesn’t slow down the process at all. We’re still waiting on the federal government; this will be done before that.”
The city has already budgeted out their portion of the renovation costs, so if approved for this grant, it would leave room for possible new additions.
In the original plan for the park renovations, there is an area that would be left unused. Before plans started to change, the Public Works Department planned to put extra seating in the space. The council discussed various ideas as to what the city could do with the space in the future – sand volleyball or pickleball courts – but hadn’t finalized any ideas.
With the possibility of additional funding for the renovations, these ideas are starting to become more attainable. Councilmember Brian Barclay mentioned the idea of a veteran-inspired nature trail as well.
The council only approved the city’s application for the grant at the city council meeting. This means the city will still need to be selected to receive the grant funding for these ideas to come to fruition.
Federal approval is set to be complete early 2025, with construction starting shortly after. A finish date has not yet been set.