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Haigler Community Foundation (2022) Print
2022 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Park enhancements
└ Park enhancements
This project revitalized an abandoned set of basketball and tennis courts, with one of the latter turned into a pickleball court. It also installed ADA-compliant benches and repaired light poles.
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See More Projects Like This One
Statesville, NC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: When Iredell County received a donation of an eight-acre parcel of land, they saw an opportunity to provide physical fitness options in a neighborhood that lacked recreational amenities. As part of efforts to create East Iredell Lions Club Community Park, this project created a half-mile walking path onsite. Organizers hope to extend the trail in the future. Additionally, the path represents the first step toward constructing a new community center, which will address health disparities by giving residents access to exercise equipment.
Bartlett, KS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: As part of the City of Bartlett's efforts to revitalize its downtown, City leaders hoped to bring residents a new outdoor space. In 2008, the local land bank donated a Main Street parcel to the city for a new park. However, a lapse in funding left many areas of the long-planned green space underused. This project added a small shelter house, picnic tables and children's playground equipment to the park. A team of local multigenerational volunteers completed the work.
Keokuk, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: To improve community health concerns and opportunities for physical activity, Keokuk Parks Foundation converted a long-neglected set of tennis courts into six pickleball courts. In addition, they installed two benches onsite, along with a trash receptacle and signage. Today, the local library offers pickleball equipment on loan at its nearby site, while members of the local pickleball club conduct free lessons. The new courts have turned a neighborhood eyesore into a vibrant, attractive recreational outlet for residents. Pickleball -- a fast-paced game modeled on tennis and ping-pong -- is popular with older adults because it is low-impact and friendly on aging joints.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Haigler, NE
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Accessibility of amenities
Description: The Haigler Community Foundation upgraded a restroom in Cornerstone Museum to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards for accessibility. Improvements included adding a Braille sign with accessible symbols, a stool, four grab bars, a new sink and a coat rack. The village uses its museum complex for community activities, including the annual Tumbleweed Festival.
Imperial, NE
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: A vacant lot in the heart of Imperial's downtown had been an eyesore for decades. To put the space to better use, the City of Imperial activated the space, creating a new pocket park. Volunteers helped create several murals onsite and installed a mosaic dragon sculpture, designed to double as a play structure for children. Using upcycled existing picnic tables and railroad ties, they also created a circular seating area, dubbed the chatroom. Local elementary school students and residents of an assisted living facility teamed up to paint tiles to decorate outdoor sectional couch. And volunteers laid down artificial turf -- a material chosen to make the mini-park easy to maintain. Raised flower beds completed the space. Since the mini-park's completion, organizers say community members continue to brainstorm ways to improve the pocket park, which they say has revitalized Imperial's arts scene.
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