Walmart gives 75 acres for Bentonville park - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

BENTONVILLE -- A land donation from Walmart could become a Central Park for Bentonville, a city official said Friday.

The 75 acres are near the intersection of Southwest Eighth and Southwest I streets, according to a news release.

Osage Park Plans

The Walton Family Foundation in October announced plans for Osage Park. The park will be on 55 acres on I Street near Thaden Field. Aviation. Art and preservation are the themes that inspired the park’s design. The lake will be expanded be 6 acres for kayaking, canoeing and paddleboarding and will include multiple piers, platforms and banks for fishing. Other amenities will include a multipurpose lawn, an aviation-themed play active zone, pickleball courts, multi-use trails and floating boardwalks offering a first-hand look at the site’s 12-acre wetland. The park will also feature an open pavilion, a music venue and 84 parking spaces.

Source: Walton Family Foundation

The land is split into three parcels -- 34-acres northwest and southwest of the intersection. The other two pieces are west along Eighth Street, said David Wright, Parks and Recreation director.

The new park will span almost 100 acres when combined with a nearly 23-acre donation from members of the Walton family, according to the release.

"Our hope is that the trails will connect the future Walmart Home Office campus to the park so our associates can take advantage of even more green space and enjoy the natural beauty of our region. As we recruit top talent from around the globe, we will continue to invest in Bentonville to help make it a great place to live, work and play," said Dan Bartlett, executive vice president, corporate affairs, in the release.

The Walton Family Foundation gave a grant to support design and development of the park, according to the release.

The combined appraised value of the land was just more than $1.6 million, according to the Benton County Assessor's Office.

"It could be like Central Park in New York City, but on a different kind of scale," Wright said of the park. "It's long and linear."

New York's Central Park is 843 acres. It's 2.5 miles long and 0.5 miles wide, according to the park's website.

Wright envisions a passive recreation space for events such festivals.

The area near the proposed park is starting to see interest from developers. The Walmart Supercenter is just north of the intersection.

Cypress Acquisitions and Walmart plan an outdoor food park fashioned from shipping containers adjacent to the supercenter at 406 S. Walton Blvd., according to a city planning staff report. The 1.71 acres is at the southeast corner of the parking lot. The Planning Commission discussed the project Oct. 15. A plan providing details about the project hasn't been submitted to the city.

"The Eighth Street property will become the epicenter of our parks and trails network. The location, the access and visibility are the perfect recipe for a destination park to serve our residents and attract visitors for generations to come," Wright said.

The city wants public input on possible park features and will seek that input in the first half of next year, he said.

"By the summer, we will have a good picture of what it might look like," he said.

The city sought feedback earlier this year for a downtown park plan. It was the first plan specifically for Dave Peel Park, Town Branch Park and Lawrence Plaza, Wright said.

City parks provide access to recreational opportunities, increase property values, spur local economies, combat crime, and protect cities from environmental impact, according to the website of City Parks Alliance, a national nonprofit organization in Washington.

Tom McCann, alliance spokesman, said earlier this year an exact threshold doesn't exist for the number of parks needed in a city because all cities are different.

The National Recreation and Parks Association's 2019 report showed a national average of 10.1 acres per 1,000 residents, Wright said. The national standard is 14 acres per 1,000 residents, he said.

Bentonville has 21 parks, according to the city's website. There are 892 acres of park land, with an additional 317 acres privately owned, but open to the public, he said. The city population was 49,298 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Bentonville is at a little more than 18 city-owned acres per 1,000 residents.

The city also has 90 acres of trails, said Debbie Griffin, city community relations and economic development director.

NW News on 12/07/2019

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