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Bryant’s Plumb Park gets grant |
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Thursday, 05 June 2008 |
Most Saline County residents probably haven’t heard of Plumb Park in Bryant, but Parks and Recreation Director Jeremy Lemons thinks the area soon will gain familiarity.
Thanks to a grant the city recently received, the site will be known as the Bryant tree farm park, Lemons said.
Located off Boone Road, the park is nearly 2.5 acres of open field nestled in between homes on Lea Circle, but it has been closed off to the public in recent years.
“There were people going into the park hitting baseballs and golfballs that would either hit the neighbors’ homes or land in their yards,” Lemons said. “We took out all the sports type things out of the park, and we plan to turn a section of it into a tree farm park.”
Funding for the project is coming from a $5,386 Urban and Community Forestry Assistance grant from the Arkansas Forestry Commission. Lemons said the 50/50 matching grant was applied for in April and the project is scheduled for completion by June 30, 2009.
“We plan to purchase some seedlings of Nuttall oak, pin oak, Shumard oak, black walnut, persimmon and black gum from the Arkansas Forestry Commission,” Lemons said. “The department will also purchase the planting material needed, an irrigation system and print a ‘Tree Planting, Tree Pruning and Tree Removal’ handbook for the public.”
In the grant application, Lemons noted that the plan also includes transplanting trees from areas that are endangered by construction, traffic or natural dangers. He said the department can cultivate the trees at the farm until a new growing area is located or they can be transplanted back to the areas where they originated.
“The city of Bryant is growing at a rapid rate and this means more shopping malls, subdivisions and fewer trees,” Lemons said. “We want to be able to plant new trees in these areas and replace old or damaged trees in the park.”
Lemons also said Bryant has been a member of the Tree City USA since 2003 and would like to be able to grow trees to transplant for an Arbor Day celebration.
“Our hope is that this will bring more attention and awareness to the park and urban forestry,” Lemons said. “Because we have volunteers from the local schools to help with the Arbor Day celebration, we will use it as an education seminar.”
Other future education plans include school field trips to the park to learn about the importance of trees, the different types of trees and other aspects of tree farms. Lemons said members of the Arkansas Forestry Commission plan to conduct workshops and classes for both the parks department and the community. He also said the parks department will care for and maintain the park and maintenance schedule annually.
“By having a tree farm locally, we can transplant trees annually and donate trees to the community,” Lemons said. “Also, Arkansas weather can be very unpredictable and very damaging to our area trees. We feel that we will be able to help the community in these hard times by volunteering to replace trees in the community, as well as use it as an educational experience by showing citizens proper planting and pruning techniques.”
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