Crews began demolition of the entry drive to Wilson Park at West Prospect Street this week.
Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Visitors to Fayetteville’s Wilson Park will soon notice some major changes.
Work is underway on a renovation project that includes total replacement of the current playgrounds, as well as the addition of a brand new musical playground and several parking infrastructure improvements.
City Council members in December approved a contract for the demolition and removal of the old playground equipment and installation of a new playground that will also include outdoor instruments like chimes, metallophones and drums.
Renovation work is funded in part by a $150,000 Arkansas Outdoor Recreation Grant, while the musical playground comes courtesy of a $30,000 donation from longtime local developer Fadil Bayyari.
City of Fayetteville
The musical playground will be named the “David Lyle Bayyari Musical Park” in honor of Fadil’s late son who enjoyed Wilson Park as a child.
The adjacent parking lot and entry drive will also receive upgrades. Asphalt on the western-most entry drive off Prospect Street will be removed and replaced with a one-way drive from Prospect to the parking lot. Concrete curb and gutter will be added to the drive and the northwest side of the parking lot to help contain parking and redirect stormwater. The new drive will feature five designated parking spaces on the west side and the lot will be striped for parking.
Demolition of the entry drive and parking off Wilson Street began this week, and will be followed by the removal of the two existing playgrounds.
City of Fayetteville
Once replaced, the two playground areas – one for children 2 to 5 and the other for children 5 to 12 – will be consolidated where the larger playground has stood for over 20 years. The musical equipment will be installed to the east of the existing picnic shelter.
The new playground equipment is currently being manufactured and is expected to be shipped in four to six weeks, according to Ken Eastin, park planner. Eastin said the new equipment will offer a variety of freestanding components, games, and benches. The areas beneath the equipment will be surfaced with impact-absorbing, resilient rubber tiles for safety.
Installation is expected to begin in mid-March and will be completed as soon as possible thereafter.
Current playground equipment
