Heavy equipment may soon become a common sight in Brad Ragan Park. The Town of Spruce Pine will seek a $100,000 PARTF grant that would help cover a $200,000 construction and improvement project to the park that includes several major renovations. (MNJ photo/Cory Spiers)
SPRUCE PINE — The Spruce Pine Town Council during its regular meeting on Monday, March 22 held a public hearing regarding its decision to apply for a $100,000 North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) grant to help fund several key improvements to Brad Ragan Park.
No public comments were made during the hearing and the town will now move forward with the grant application which will be reviewed by the regional grant contact in April and sent in for review by May.
Town Finance Manager Crystal Young said after reviewing past PARTF grant recipients online, it appears that roughly one out of four grant applications are accepted.
“We’re excited,” said Town Manager Darlene Butler. “We’d be really excited to get it ourselves.”
Butler also passed out pictures of the proposed improvements for the council to review during the hearing.
If approved, the grant funds would cover half of the $200,000 construction and improvement project at Brad Ragan which includes the construction of a mountain bike/walking trail, renovation of the double tennis court, repurposing of a single tennis court to a pickleball court, repurposing of a double tennis court to a dog park, updates to the existing double basketball court including drainage repairs, cosmetic court repairs, fence installation for ball retention and spectator seating, picnic shelter renovations including new siding and paint and a playground revamp including new surface material and some new equipment.
Grant recipients are expected to be announced by late summer or early fall.
During the council’s regular meeting on Feb. 22, Butler said if the town does not receive the grant funding, they can begin looking into other ways to improve Brad Ragan within the confines of the town budget.