We need the club’s input in efforts to upgrade Ben Walters Park to make it safer and more enjoyable for the users. A little park background and ideas our little committee have for upgrades follows. Please look these over and offer any suggestions, improvements, and new ideas for this work. We also need more members on our committee, so please let Dave Brann, Tom Early or Kathy Hill know if you are interested. Being on this committee does not mean you are bound to a work party. We will be soliciting members for help early summer, so please be willing to chip in some time for a better community (and the possibility for free coffee/drinks and snacks). |
The Homer-Kachemak Bay Rotary Club and the City of Homer has an "Adopt a Park" agreement at Ben Walters Park since 2011 which states that our club is responsible for some of the maintenance and upgrades. Our Rotary logo (brand) is visible in the park and the aging facilities and lack of playground equipment is sheds a poor light on Rotary in Homer. The park is also beginning to be used for nefarious activities by the younger generation. The upgrades we envision would enhance the quality and safer use of the park. The McDonald's franchise owner expressed enthusiasm to help support our work to upgrade this park because of the close proximity to their facility and potential customer use of the park. Our “Cranium Cup” trivia night this winter netted us approximately $2,000 with the stated proceeds going to Homer parks upgrades. We plan to use these funds and a lot of Club "sweat equity" to complete many of the following projects. Construct two to three picnic tables, sand and varnish existing benches and construct several new benches, brush and open some of the wooded area for better visibility and safety, refurbish/replace boundary posts, repaint the inside and outside of the public bathroom, and install lighting on the park grounds. With the club money, a District 5010 matching grant, and some probable help from McDonald’s, we hope to purchase several new and fairly simple pieces of playground equipment to encourage more use by families. This will be a very visible Rotary project which will greatly benefit the community. |