The city of Jonesboro is working to secure funding necessary to repair damage at the skating park in Allen Park, a situation reported during a city council meeting on Tuesday.
According to a resident who addressed the council, the park’s concrete surface has become unsafe for skating, and lighting in the area is inadequate. Jonesboro Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Aaron Holland said the department received an initial report about the damage from the same resident in March. An inspection by city staff determined the concrete likely cracked after an ice storm earlier in the year.
"What it looks like is probably whenever we had the big ice storm in January, we probably had a lot of people come out there. And because we weren’t de-icing it, they put some de-icer out there. And that really just cracked a lot of the concrete, especially on that top surface," Holland explained.
The parks department collaborated with the city’s engineering team to assess the damage and develop a repair budget. The total cost is estimated at $50,000, with $25,000 currently allocated from the city’s budget. However, Holland emphasized that work will not begin until all funding is secured, as the department is committed to completing the repairs “the right way.”
To bridge the funding gap, the department is actively pursuing grant opportunities. For now, the lighting issue mentioned by the resident has not been included in the scope of the current project.
Once the required funding is fully secured, the city plans to open the project to bids. The project’s cost estimate has been reduced to $42,000 but may fluctuate further as bids come in.
The city has not yet provided a timeline for when repairs will begin.