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Monday, 27 August 2018 16:30

City awarded $200K for Chaloner rec improvements

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The city has been awarded a $200,000 North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Grant which with funds received from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and local matching funds will mean $400,000 allocated for improvements at Chaloner Recreation Center.

“I’m very proud that the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund have funded this project,” Roanoke Rapids Parks and Recreation Director John Simeon said this afternoon. “This has been a lengthy process that is now coming to fruition and we look forward to the end result.”

The end result will be improvements at Chaloner which include a splash pad, new playground equipment, new shelters, a paved fitness trail and conversion of the tennis courts into multipurpose courts.

The city has already requested the release of the $150,000 awarded the city by the Reynolds trust, Simeon said. PARTF plans a November 8 webinar on how to proceed.

City council agreed to put up $50,000 in matching funds.

A team meeting will be held with Nick Rightmyer of DM2 Engineering to create site plans for the project.

The city’s grant application to PARTF was ranked sixth out of 50 applications.

awards

The governor’s office said in a statement PARTF awarded more than $6.7 million in grants to fund 27 projects.

“Finishing sixth out of 50 shows we put a strong team together to create an outstanding grant application,” Simeon said.

Planning and Development Director Kelly Lasky, Rightmyer, Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Manning and Simeon “put in many hours to create a 250-page grant application. It was a true team effort and I’m very proud of all of us in preparing an application for what was a very competitive grant where only 50 percent of the applications were funded.”

In the statement Governor Roy Cooper said, “Parks and Recreation Trust Fund projects support conservation, strengthen communities, and help local economies thrive. These grants improve quality of life and encourage residents and visitors to get outdoors.”

The state Parks and Recreation Authority considered 50 grant applications requesting $12.6 million.

The maximum grant awarded for a single project under the program was $500,000. Awardees must match funds dollar-for-dollar for the awarded amount.

Susi Hamilton, who worked in community planning before her tenure as secretary of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, has seen firsthand how these grants impact communities. “From our most rural areas to our largest towns and cities, PARTF grants instill new life into our communities and continue to benefit these areas for generations.”

Said Dwayne Patterson, director of the Division of State Parks and Recreation: “Robust recreational opportunities in our communities are more important than ever before. We look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition to improve our physical and mental health and the vitality of our communities."

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