By T. Scott Boatright
It’s been long known as one of the jewels of Lincoln Parish.
But even the brightest of jewels needs a little polishing up every now and then.
And just that is in store for Lincoln Parish thanks to a $1 million Louisiana Community Development Block Grant announced last month that will fund major improvements at the park..
Park Director James Ramsaur said the upgrades will include installing a new rubber surface for the park’s original playground, constructing a new foundation and surface for Legacy Park and repairing and replacing outdated equipment.
Ramsaur said the upgrades will include adding electricity to picnic sites and resurfacing the park’s walking path that was originally installed nearly 20 years ago.
“This is all something that’s needed, and has been for a while now,” Ramsaur said. “We tried to get a Block Grant to do all of this last year, but we didn’t get it. But about a month ago we were told we had been awarded the grant this year, so we look forward to seeing an improved park in the future.
“The playground is the primary focus. The company that built the (original) subsurface didn’t do it right, so that created problems and the rubber surface was coming up and the surface has dips in it. It’s been like that for a few years but when I priced it out, it was out of our budget. We don’t have that kind of money.”
Ramsaur said both playgrounds — the original one that has existed since Lincoln Parish Park opened in 1995 and one another added later that is known as Legacy Park.
“The original playground has sand and dirt as its base,” Ramsaur said. “We’re going to put that good rubber surface on top of a concrete slab there. Sometimes they come in 4X4 (foot) squares. And those squares hold up better.
“And any equipment that needs to be replaced, we’ll replace it, too.”
Legacy Park was the brainchild of area resident Jana Beck.
“She has a special needs child and came and asked that if she could raise the money for it, if we would be interested in receiving a special needs playground,” Ramsaur said. “I was like, sure! What are we talking about? And she said it would be like $300,000-$400,000.
“I asked if she thought she could raise that much, and she said yes. I really didn’t think she could raise that much. But she held fundraisers, including a big one at Squire Creek, and the Lincoln Health Hub made a huge donation — a majority of the cost.”
Ramsaur said that while newer, Legacy Park will also be part of the upgrade process.
“Kids use that probably 75% to 25% compared to the original park,” he said.
Resurfacing the walking paths throughout the park will also be part of the upgrade process.
“This will resurface the walking paths and get rid of some (tree) roots that are coming up along the path,” Ramsaur said. “Then on the far south side of our fence line, there’s a property on the other side, on Frazier Road, with a pond that’s above us. That property and pond predate the park.
“When that pond fills up with rain, the water flows over part of the walking path. We’ve made various attempts at trying to get that water rerouted, but this time we’re going to do it right. We’re going to get (engineering consultants) the Riley Company to figure out how to catch that water. What happens is, it just runs at first before dwindling to a trickle for a week or two. Taking care of that with some kind of drain is included as part of the walking path resurfacing.”
Ramsaur said that there will be some “hoops” that will need to be “jumped through” as part of the process for actually receiving the funding.
“With these grants, it takes a while,” Ramsaur said. “You have to get a bunch of different approvals and that kind of thing. They’re telling me it’s probably going to be next spring before we turn dirt.”
But despite that delay, Ramsaur said there are hopes the project can be completed by the end of 2026.
“If things go like we hope and construction starts in late spring or early summer, then it could hopefully be completed within six months,” Ramsaur said.
