At a meeting on March 23, the Clarkdale Town Council unanimously approved an application for $10,000 for park construction from the Arizona Communities Foundation through its Sedona fund for projects in the Verde Valley.
According to Clarkdale Community Services Supervisor Joni Westcott, who presented the grant proposal to the council at the meeting, Parks and Recreation intends to use this funding to support repairs to the Town Park, especially the gazebo and playground equipment.
“Most of the time when we apply for this it’s been for the water feature at the [upcoming] Selna-Mongini Park or something to do with Selna-Mongini Park. This time we’re putting our focus on our Town Park,” Westcott said. “The primary focus is the playground equipment. It has not been upgraded — it’s had a few minor improvements, but not much has been done since 2006 when it was installed. And then of course our wonderful, historic, iconic gazebo is in much need of some repairs and some sprucing up.”
Westcott pointed to the slide in the playground equipment, which was removed recently and replaced with a railing due to safety concerns related to damages, as a key feature to replace as part of the refurbishments.
“Everything we put into either the gazebo or the playground equipment will be with safety first in mind,” Westcott said.
Westcott said that the town applied for $10,000 as the maximum amount, but does not expect to get the full funding and anticipates using some funds later allocated from the capital improvement plan as well. Last time the town applied for this grant, it was funded at $2,000 out of a $10,000 application.
“It’s so important for us in Clarkdale to go after these kinds of funds,” Town Councilman Bill Regner said at the meeting. “I just appreciate you and your staff for this and for these kinds of efforts. We hope there’s going to be more to come of grant attempts and things like this.”
