Central Park gets full funding

The City of Sundance has officially secured a Business Ready Community grant for $484,000 to develop a new park on the site next to Old Stoney. The State Lands and Investments Board (SLIB) approved full funding for the city’s request on June 20.

The funding joins a second grant for a similar amount from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, administered by Wyoming State Parks, which was approved in May. Together, the grants total approximately $868,000.

According to Clerk Treasurer Kathy Lenz, the project is expected to cost around $1 million and the city will provide the remaining funding, largely through in-kind work from the Public Works Department.

The Business Ready Community grant was not initially recommended by the Wyoming Business Council’s staff, but the council itself chose to forward a recommendation for full funding to SLIB in May. SLIB made the funding contingent on Sundance being awarded the second grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Together, the grants will be used to reclaim the four-block area where the school district’s administration building once stood. The demolition of the old building was also achieved with state funding.

Plans for the new park include a historic walking path, playground, water feature, landscaping and a covered stage area.

The city expects to receive the funding by October and is working on designs in preparation at this time, with the hope of bidding out the project in December or January to begin construction of the park in the spring.