Dateline: August 30, 2007

Grant to fund park upgrade

Months of hard work paid off last Thursday when state officials approved a grant that will help fund more than $37,000 worth of improvements in Clarendon’s City Park.

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission grant will pay $18,982 for new equipment at the park, and the remainder of the project will be covered by donations and city labor.

City Clerk Jeannie Molder wrote the grant and said many people contributed to the application.

“It was really a citywide effort,” Molder said. “[City Superintendent] Jim Roberts did a lot. He wanted a park for the little kids, and the city council told us to see if we could get a grant. We also got all kinds of letters of support from local businesses and groups.”

Molder said more than 200 irises have already been donated and planted in terraces at the park; and more irises, bluebonnets, and trees that will provide beautiful fall foliage will be added also.

The biggest change will be the creation of a “Tot Park” with playground equipment for little kids on the south side of Seventh Street where there is currently antiquated equipment and an unused volleyball court.

New playground equipment will also be installed in the main City Park, and the grant will also pay for additional picnic tables and barbecue grills.

The old maypole will remain in the new Tot Park, and the old big slide and playground dome will remain in the main park. All playground equipment will have sandboxes installed around them for safety purposes.

Mayor Pro-tem Janice Knorpp commended the effort put forth by Molder and those who helped her.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “I think Jeannie and everybody did a super job getting the grant.”

New playground equipment is expected to cost $10,467.72, and new park equipment will cost another $5,546.46.

Cash donations to the project total $4,290.81, and the city will contribute $9,871.50 worth of in-kind labor.

A start date has not been set for the project, and Molder says the terms of the grant gives the city two years to complete the project.

Clarendon was one of 18 communities across the state that received a share of $797,231 for small community grants

The Small Community Program provides grants reimbursing 50 percent of the cost, up to a maximum of $50,000, to political subdivisions responsible for providing public recreation services to their citizens. Small communities are classified as communities with a population of 20,000 or less.

The initiative is funded through the Texas Recreation and Parks Account grant program, established in 1993 by the Texas Legislature to direct a portion of the state sales tax collected on sporting goods for basic outdoor recreation.

Molder and other city workers began preparing for this grant last summer to make the application’s March 2007 deadline. The Panhandle Regional Planning Commission also provided valuable assistance on this grant, Molder said.