The Junction City Commission has agreed to a letter of commitment to help support the local match for the  Quality Play for All community development block grant application. This would fund improvements to Fifth Street Playground Park.

If the grant is approved at the state level the City would be required to provide a $50,000 cash local match.

A local committee is seeking a $200,000 grant and has secured $150,000 in private donations for the project. Their spokesperson Joy Davis informed city officials it’s a matching grant. “The condition for the grant is that both the committee and the city have to have some part of the match for this grant.”

Extensive improvements are proposed for the Fifth Street Park ranging from multiple playground “stations” for varying stages of childhood and development to a turf-like surface that would keep the park aesthetically pleasing year-round.The City share of the funding could come from a Capital Outlay fund.

It will be a competitive grant process with other communities in Kansas. The grant recipients will be announced in late January.