The Town of Benson is inching ever closer to the next phase of improvements to the proposed Lee Street Park Complex.
According to Town Manager Matt Zapp, the City of Benson has applied for a $1.1 million grant from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) of North Carolina to help move the proposed improvements and modifications to the Dr. P.K. Vyas Park to the next phase of expansion.
“There’s currently two baseball fields and a multi-use football field,” he said. “Our plan is to put two additional baseball fields and move the football field to an adjoining property.”
If the grant comes to fruition, the money would be used to purchase the land for the football field and begin construction of the two new diamonds along with additional lighting for the facility.
“The use of the park is explosive right now,” Mr. Zapp said. “This is a $6 million project already a portion of the way completed. This next phase is $1.1 million worth so it’s another 20 percent of the project.”
Mr. Zapp notes that the timetable for further expansion to the site is based solely on funding. Mr. Zapp does admit he would like to see it completed in the next five or six years if at all possible.
“We don’t know,” he said when asked about the timetable for completion. “It’s all based on funding and our growth pattern. So if the funding mechanisms come up, we can chip away at this quicker.
We’d prefer to have this all done in the next five or six years, but it’s all based on need and funding.” Courtesy The Daily Record
