VANCEBURG — The Lewis County Fiscal Court move forward with its plan to construct a recreational park in the area during its meeting Monday afternoon.
During the meeting, the court selected an architect firm that will help to plan out the phase one project for a brand new rec park.
Judge-Executive Todd Ruckel said that through grant funding and using land from the nearby industrial park, the court is able to make the project happen.
“We’ve received two grants, one though LWCF — Land-Water Conservation Fund — and one through Recreational Trails, to do phase one of our rec park,” he said. “We got 40 acres up there, the architect will draft out what our finished project wants to be and then we’ll have to do it in phases.”
The recreational park will be located in the the Vanceburg-Lewis County Industrial Park in Black Oak, on the easternmost side of the park.
Ruckel said the total cost for the phase one project will be $250,000. The plan for the park is for it to contain a walking trail, restrooms, a splash pad and at least one ball field after phase one is complete.
“We’ve always wanted to have a rec park here, and it always seemed like we’ve either had the money to do to, gotten the grant dollars to start it, and we didn’t; have the property, or we had the property and didn’t have the grant funds,” he said. “This time we’ve happened to be able to do both — we got some grant funds along with the property.”
Among the architects who offered bids on the project, the court selected Johnson Early Architects of Lexington. With the approved motion, Ruckel will be able to negotiate a contract with the firm.
Ruckel said he hopes for the architect to begin working sometime in the fall and again in the spring next year. After phase one is complete, the court will begin applying for more grant funds to move forward to phase two.
