Project budget
The Celebration Garden and Wellness Park has a budget of just over $2 million. Funds were raised through private donations.
Source: Jackie Crouch, executive director of the Advancement of Arkansas Colleges of Health Education
Barling – A new park dedicated to celebrating life and supporting healthy living is coming to Chaffee Crossing later this year.
The Arkansas Colleges for Health Education in Fort Smith is building the Celebration Garden and Wellness Park East Village at Heritage, a cluster close to the commercial and residential space it owns in Barling.
The roughly 8-acre park will be open to the public, said Jackie Crouch, executive director of Advancement of the Foundation. Construction began in early 2021 and is expected to be completed by late spring. Dedication will be held afterwards.
Krutsch said the foundation’s mission is to educate and train a diverse group of healthcare professionals with a high degree of competence and compassion; establishment of health and research support facilities; Providing healthy living environments to improve the lives of others. The health aspect of the project derives from this mission.
“It’s clear from the shortage of healthcare professionals, from doctors to therapists to nurses, that we probably can’t graduate enough healthcare professionals to meet the demands,” Crouch said. “So one way to help impact the overall health of Arkansas and the region is to work on the other end of the spectrum by trying to help people become healthier.”
Krutsch said the Celebration Garden portion is meant to celebrate life, particularly the lives of those whose bodies were donated to the foundation after their death for the educational benefit of its students, as well as these gifts they made.
Barling City Manager Steve Kaur said the park will serve as a magnet for Arkansas colleges for health education by providing a space in which students can relax. It is also believed that residents will use the park similar to how they use Chaffee Crossing as a place for physical activities now, such as walking and cycling.
One feature of Celebration Park and Wellness Park, Crouch said, is a small lake. A hiking trail will surround the lake and run throughout the park, totaling just over a quarter mile in length. The track will connect to both the Fort Smith trails, the green road masterplan and the trail system on the foundation’s campus that it plans to develop further.
The park will also contain a playground, exercise equipment area for adults, and a large pavilion equipped with audio and visual projection equipment that will be available for outdoor meetings and classroom activities.
“We want to do a lot of shows in health and wellness, yoga, those kinds of things, and it’s all going to happen on the pavilion,” Crouch said.
The pavilion will be named the Degen Wellness Pavilion in honor of the $500,000 gift from the Degen Foundation, a Fort Smith-based nonprofit group, according to Crouch. The celebration garden and park memorial area will feature a maze at the request of another project donor.
Other features will include restroom facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a bike repair station and a pet watering station, according to Crouch. The project was designed by local architect Chassen Garrett, with Natural Dam based Rick Mooney Construction being the builder.
Crouch said Teresa Brown, dean of the Arkansas Colleges of Physical Therapy for Health Education, and Jennifer Moore, dean of the College of Occupational Therapy, participated in the selection of equipment to ensure the park was disability-compliant and useful. in educating their students.
Moore said faculty at the College of Occupational Therapy will use the Celebration Garden and Wellness Garden as an educational tool. She said students in the program learn about the value and principles of holistic design for things like venues and equipment as part of the curriculum, which they will be able to learn by analyzing the holistic playground equipment in the park.
“Furthermore, our occupational therapy students can observe and interact with children of all abilities while they play on the equipment—allowing them to see how the equipment design ‘balances the playing field’ so that all children have the opportunity to play,” Moore said. “This teaching approach is even more valuable. Much more than reading material from a book or listening to a lecture.”
Moore said her program can also use the park as a space for meetings, lessons outside, or for stress-relieving breaks.
According to Core, Barling has two parks in the city. It also has Springhill Park, which belongs to the Army Corps of Engineers.
A new pavilion in the Celebration Garden and Wellness Park is under construction Wednesday east of The Village at Heritage in Barling. Arkansas Colleges for Health Education owns the property and expects the new addition to be completed by late spring. Go to nwaonline.com/220109Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Marco Landin (right), Jose Garcia and Luis Lopez work Thursday, January 6, 2022 at the construction site of the Celebration Garden and Wellness Park near the village in Heritage in Barling. Arkansas Colleges for Health Education owns the property and expects the new addition to be completed by late spring. Visit nwaonline.com/220109Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
José Garcia (left) and Marco Landin work Thursday, January 6, 2022, at the construction site of the Celebration Park and Wellness Garden near the village in Heritage in Barling. Arkansas Colleges for Health Education owns the property and expects the new addition to be completed by late spring. Visit nwaonline.com/220109Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Luis Lopez (left) and Jose Garcia work Thursday, January 6, 2022, at the construction site of the Celebration Park and Wellness Garden near the village in Heritage in Barling. Arkansas Colleges for Health Education owns the property and expects the new addition to be completed by late spring. Visit nwaonline.com/220109Daily/ for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)