$30K grant helps Hayfield update park
May 21—The City of Hayfield has announced that it has been awarded $30,000 from the Taylor Family Farms Foundation to assist with updates to the Earl B. Himle Memorial Park.
The grant will bring with it a transformational component and will add more than 565 additional feet of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant concrete walking paths to connect the newly updated playground area to the parking lot and the sidewalks around the park.
The additional paths will also extend the pad outside of the bathrooms to provide wheelchairs more room to turn around when going in and out of the restrooms. This addition will make the park restrooms fully ADA compliant.
Additional updates to the park restrooms include the coating of the floors with epoxy floor coating to prevent potential slips and falls, and a 60-gallon water heater that will allow the bathrooms to remain open to the public during the colder months of the year for year-round use.
The exterior of the structure will also be fitted with an ADA compliant water fountain that also offers a water bottle filler for reusable bottles.
The addition of two handicap parking spaces to the existing parking lot will bring the total number of these dedicated spaces from two to four.
Final additions to the park will include five blue powder painted benches which will be strategically installed at or near the volleyball courts and playground equipment. Updates will be coming to the park this summer.
Earl B. Himle Memorial Park is host to the city's public pool, basketball court, baseball field and concession stand, two sand volleyball pits, horse shoe pits, playground equipment, and two modern shelters with water and electricity. The city's EDA Director and CEDA representative, Rebecca Charles, has been working with the city on park updates and grants over the past few years.
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