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Bring out the peanuts and cracker jacks!
Mountain Home Mayor Hillrey Adams and the Mountain Home Parks and Recreation Department have officially reopened Clysta Willet Park in time for its baseball seasons.
Hundreds of people packed into the park Monday night to celebrate the completion of the $2 million overhaul of the park, before watching their little ones take to the mound. Construction costs were paid for by a temporary sales tax passed in 2021.
Before cutting the ribbon on Ritter Field, Adams gathered a few of the original founders of the park to thank them for all they had done in creating a place for Mountain Home children to play ball.
“And none of what we have now would have been possible [without them]” said Adams. “They put forth a lot of effort years ago, but I don’t think they were ever thanked for their efforts.”
Also, in attendance was Lori Gregory, who sang the National Anthem before the ribbon cutting ceremony, and two of Mountain Home’s most famous baseball players, Ron Czanstkowski and Coach Don Webb. Czanstkowski christened Ritter fields new turf by throwing the first pitch of the night to Coach Webb.
To cut the ribbon, Parks Director Daniel Baxley gathered together a group of future baseball stars in the making to assist with wielding the oversized pair of scissors. Adams also gave thanks to the Mountain Home Street Department, Water Department and Parks Department for assisting with construction of the newly refurbished fields, as well as NAEC. Also thanked were Will Gregory of Gregory Construction and Crawford Electric.
“I want to thank the members of the Mountain Home City Council that came out tonight,” Adams said. “I certainly appreciate their support with the project. Be sure to thank them for their help.”
Since taking office, Adams has heavily emphasized upgrading the city’s park system in hopes of providing a healthier lifestyle for both adults and children in Mountain Home.
At Hickory, Adams worked to install Mountain Home’s first-ever all-inclusive playground. That playground, which opened a few months ago, offers a fully ADA-compliant jungle gym, parking lot, and allows children with disabilities to play alongside their fellow friends.
The park’s baseball field will also be revamped to accommodate children with special needs. In future construction, a new terraced amphitheater-style seating arrangement will also be built on the hill below the playground facing the park’s Farmers and Merchants Banks Stage. A new fence will be built around the park’s baseball field.
Altogether, the playground cost roughly $375,000 to complete, with a large portion of the costs being covered by state funding after Adams successfully pitched the upgrade to the Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism in 2021.
After opening the new playground, Adams shifted his focus to getting work done at Keller and Clysta Willet Park.
At Keller, Adams oversaw a complete overhaul of the park’s baseball fields with a focus on better water drainage and new seating for parents to enjoy while watching a game.
Work at Keller Park began in December of 2021. Street Department crews installed new culvert pipes around each ballfield to alleviate drainage issues in the fields. Concrete was also poured throughout the outer perimeter of the fields, making it convenient for walking, and increasing accessibility for handicap visitors to the park. New turf was also installed on each field.
Concrete pads were poured for the bleaches, dugout floors and batting cages. The park also received new sidewalks. Concrete curbs and guttering were also poured from the entrance of the park to the parking lot, which also received a fresh round of new asphalt. New awnings were also installed over the improved bleachers.
A high-tech camera system was installed to protect the park which will eventually allow the city to broadcast games to the public.
The project was completed Oct. 13 of last year. This project cost $417,465.05.
At Clysta Willett Park, city workers rearranged the park’s baseball fields to allow a more centralized concession stand and installed new astroturf.
This project began July 11 with a Street Department crew doing the same upgrades as the Keller Park project.
New drainage culvert was installed for proper ballfield drainage, concrete pads were poured for the bleachers, the dugout floors were formed up and poured back with concrete, as were the batting cages. Sidewalks were poured to make this park handicap accessible also. The crew had been pulled off this project until the turf was installed. Crews returned in Dec. to install more drainage culverts and finish up concrete work.
While work at Keller and Clysta Willet parks has been completed, the city still has some outstanding projects at McCabe Park.
In 2015, the McCabe Family donated approximately 42 acres of vacant land at the west end of the 62/412 Bypass and Highway 62 West. The donation was designated for the specific use of a city park.
Since this generous donation was accepted by the City, the Street Department has installed new fencing for the proposed park, built and completed two entrance roads along with an access road to the three ponds that are on the property along with a parking lot.
New culvert pipe was placed along with curb and guttering, and sidewalks were installed along the roads. In 2020, a ½ mile walking trail was built and paved, in 2021, a 2,505-foot mountain bike trail was built in the wooded area south of the recreational trail.
Currently, the Street Department is waiting for approval from ARDOT to continue the walking trail/bike path to connect with the walking trail at ASU Mountain Home.
In October, brush and trees were cleared beginning at the back side of McCabe Park at the mountain bike trail. This new clearing and project will be the continuation of the walking trail/bike path which will go to the 62/412 Bypass and continue to connect with Arkansas State University’s trail. Fencing was put up to separate the pasture and a 5-bay box culvert has been built at the creek.
The Street Department is waiting for contact from ARDOT for a scheduled pre-construction meeting to continue this project.
