Moorhead City Council

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

The Moorhead City Council meeting Monday (July 7) was highlighted by accepting gifts – two substantial grants to complete and improve recreational facilities across the city.
Parks and Recreation Director Holly Heitkamp detailed the purposes for which the FM Area Foundation and the Alex Stern Family Foundation contributed a total of $32,500.
The FM Area Foundation grant of $7,500 is earmarked for the second phase of development of the Inclusive Playground in Southside Regional Park, 2000 40th St. S.. The first phase of the play area – designed for all children, including those with physical or intellectual disabilities – was inaugurated one month ago. Its cost was about $500,000, underwritten with a combination of public and private funding.
The foundation grant is earmarked for a fence to enclose the entire playground. Explaining the need for the enclosure, Heitkamp told the council, “Not all disabilities are easily seen. Children with autism and emotional or intellectual disabilities are sometimes impulsive and have difficulty recognizing danger. In the autism world, this is known as elopement. For children with elopement tendencies to play freely, thei parents and caregivers need to know they are in a secure area safe from traffic and other hazards, so a fence is a very important addition.”
The grant brings the total raised so far to $10,000. Phase Two’s goal is $25,000.
The Alex Stern Family Foundation awarded the city the second grant accepted Monday – $25,000 toward renovation of the grandstand at Matson Field. The project is part of an overall remodeling of the baseball field on 15th Avenue North estimated to cost a total of about $2 million.
Heitkamp noted that rehabilitating the aging grandstand ranks at the top of the Park Advisory Board’s priorities. The project will not only improve the facility for the city’s baseball teams, she said; it will also permit Moorhead to attract more regional and state tournaments.
She told the council that the Stern Foundation grant brings the total raised to date to $1.230 million. “We hope to start some of the work this season,” she added.