Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Oct. 11, 2024 – Members of the Public Services Committee meet Thursday afternoon to discuss two resolutions about a new park near Disciple Drive in the northeastern area of Jonesboro.
Danny Kapales, Director of Jonesboro Parks and Recreation, told JRN that this new community park, called Disciple Drive Park, will only add to Jonesboro’s beauty and appeal.
“You see it in places like Savanna, Georgia. They have squares all through the whole downtown, but when you started looking in here, we really didn’t have that. But now you’re starting to see it. We have this little square here for hanging out and we’ve got the park over there, where you can hang out,” he said.
The site will be over 27 acres.
Chris Gibson, Public Services Committee Chair, started the meeting with the reading of the resolution authorizing the City of Jonesboro to enter into an agreement with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, And Tourism and the United States Department of Interior to accept grant funds after the City was awarded an Outdoor Recreation Legacy Program grant for $1 million.
According to the resolution, the City of Jonesboro has agreed to provide a local match of $1,129,675. The federal funds will be used for land acquisition and development of Disciple Park.
With a total estimated cost of $2,129,675, the park will be comprised of walking and biking trails, a playground, tennis and pickleball courts, a large and a small dog park, multipurpose recreation fields, benches, restrooms, green spaces, parking lots, an expanded road entrance and a two-acre fishing pond. Full details about the site can be found here.
After the reading, Jonesboro City Councilman and Public Services Committee Member Dr. Anthony Coleman inquired as to where the city’s match would be coming from.
Grants and Community Development Director Jeremy Biggs explained the $1 million match was approved two years ago by the city council, so it would most likely be in the general funds.
Jonesboro Finance Director Steve Purtee, agreed, noting that it would be appropriated from the general fund.
“We originally applied in 2022,” Biggs said. “It’s been a long process because we couldn’t get any agreements in place with the property owners and with no progress made towards that we had to get back in line for the same 2022 funding. But they gave us a firm deadline of Sept. 30 of 2024. We were going to have to make progress, or we would be thrown out completely. So, we really started to get the ball rolling earlier this year. We have been working on this since January with other property owners to try to move it forward.”
Public Services Committee member Brian Emison also noted that the city has been looking to put a park in that area of town for about 10 years and it fit right into the Master Parks Plan recommendations since there was no neighborhood park space in that area of town at this time.
This item will now move on to the full council for final approval.
The next resolution for the City of Jonesboro to enter a contract with by Cornerstone United Methodist Church to acquire the property, which is located at 1700 Disciple Drive, for the park.
If passed by the full council, the purchase price for the property will be $300,001.
Both resolutions will now be walked onto the next City Council meeting Oct. 15.
