HENDERSONVILLE – Henderson County Parks and Recreation plans to renovate East Flat Rock Park to accommodate all children, including those with disabilities.The 21-acre East Flat Rock Park, with its playground, sports fields, walking trail and disc golf course, is the most used park in the county, but it’s about 25 years old and needs some updates, including replacing the playground, Bruce Gilliam, director of Henderson County Parks said in a Sept. 2 presentation to the Board of Commissioners.The park’s renovat...
HENDERSONVILLE – Henderson County Parks and Recreation plans to renovate East Flat Rock Park to accommodate all children, including those with disabilities.
The 21-acre East Flat Rock Park, with its playground, sports fields, walking trail and disc golf course, is the most used park in the county, but it’s about 25 years old and needs some updates, including replacing the playground, Bruce Gilliam, director of Henderson County Parks said in a Sept. 2 presentation to the Board of Commissioners.
The park’s renovation will be funded by a $500,000 five-to-one matching grant from the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, he said.
The county’s matching share is $99,700, Chair Bill Lapsley said before the board passed a budget amendment to approve that spending.
The plan calls for the walking trail, playground, pavilion and restrooms at East Flat Rock Park to be made accessible to people in wheelchairs and with other physical disabilities, Gilliam said.
“We’re going to focus on implementing ADA (the Americans with Disabilities Act) and universal design” when replacing the playground, he said.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal law protecting people with disabilities from discrimination. Universal design aims for products meant to be “usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaption or specialized design,” according to the U.S. General Services Administration’s website.
The playground itself will cost between $350,000 and $400,000, Gilliam told the Times-News after his presentation.
“It’s going to be huge and the kids are going to be so excited,” he said.
The deadline to apply for this grant was May 1, according to North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation’s website and 16 other parks in the state applied for the grant, Gilliam told the board.
Parks and Rec is also waiting to see whether it will receive another grant, worth between $200,000 and $400,000, from the United States Tennis Association to build tennis courts in the county, he told the Times-News.
George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at [email protected].