Representatives from the Hot Springs Board of Realtors, Park Avenue Community Association, Mayor Pat McCabe and city staff mark the completion of a grant-funded bioswale project at David F. Watkins Memorial Tunnel Park.
The Hot Springs Board of Realtors recently partnered with the Park Avenue Community Association to acquire a $3,500 Placemaking Grant from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to fund construction of a bioswale at the David F. Watkins Memorial Tunnel Park. The bioswale will help with drainage and flood mitigation, is designed to facilitate bees and butterflies and encourage pollination, and is part of the park’s rain-to-recreation concept.
According to NAR’s website, its placemaking grants focus on small-budget, incremental community projects.
Bioswales are landscape elements designed to concentrate or remove debris and pollution from surface runoff water. They consist of a swaled drainage course with gently sloped sides and filled with vegetation, compost and/or riprap.
Personnel from the City of Hot Springs’ Street Division and Parks & Trails Department supplied the labor for the project. Taylor Kempkes Architects provided the design.
David F. Watkins Memorial Tunnel Park is located on Park Avenue in Uptown Hot Springs.
