"The baseball fields are great, but they're kind of singular in their use," Ted Jack, the city's planning superintendent, told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on the afternoon Walker Park reopened. Fayetteville's second-oldest park, open since 1949 at 10 W. 15th St., spent decades built around one sport and one kind of visitor. The rebuilt south end, which opened with a ribbon-cutting on Sunday, Oct. 18, is designed so that a dozen different people can show up at the same hour and each find something to do.
What makes Walker Park different now is what the city built once the baseball fields moved out.
The diamonds had to leave first
The work started with a move most people never saw. Jack told the Democrat-Gazette that the improvements had "been in the works for a long time," but the baseball fields had to be shifted to Kessler Park before anything could happen at Walker. Once the fields were gone, the space they had held was free for something else.
"So, we're looking at how can we change the park so that it really creates a lot of variety of uses," Jack said.
That goal came from the Walker Park master plan, which was shaped by public input and finished in 2023. TSW, the design firm behind the plan, says it was adopted in September 2023, with Phase I as the first round of construction. The work that opened this month is that first round, and it is concentrated on the south end of the property.
What filled the south end
Here is what the city built on the south end, grouped by how you might actually use it. The Fayetteville Flyer's count of the new features:
- For a team or a league night: three new multipurpose fields for soccer and other sports, which the city says are lighted
- For a doubles game: six pickleball courts and refinished tennis courts, with the pickleball courts also lighted
- For a weekend crowd: four new sand volleyball pits, also lighted
- For people who don't want to sweat: ping pong tables, new areas for baggo and bocce ball, and a revamped horseshoe pit, which the city calls a modern horseshoe facility
- For kids: new playground equipment on a rebuilt playground
- For gathering: pavilion improvements and a gathering area with yard games
The lights are what make the list work. A baseball diamond sits empty most evenings out of season. Lighted fields, pickleball courts and volleyball pits can be in use after work in late October, when it gets dark before many people leave the office. The park's listed hours run daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
On reopening day, the Democrat-Gazette reported families on the sand volleyball courts, people playing ping pong and bocce against each other, and children on the new playground, all while a food truck and music ran in the background. KNWA reported that local sports enthusiasts were on hand to introduce the new activities.
A stop on the greenway, not just a destination
The new variety matters more because of where Walker Park sits. The city's facility listing notes that the park has access to the Razorback Greenway and that its 2014 connection to the Frisco Trail made it part of the regional greenway. Before the renovation, many people on the trail rode or walked right past it.
The Democrat-Gazette spoke with one South Fayetteville resident who said Walker had never been among his favorite city parks and that he often went to Wilson Park, near the University of Arkansas campus, instead. After seeing the new south end, he told the paper, "I'm excited to make this a stop when I'm going on the greenway."
Someone on a bike can now stop for a game of bocce, a parent on a run can let the kids loose on the new playground, and a group can meet for pickleball without planning around a baseball schedule.
The new pieces also sit next to features that were already there. TSW's description of the park includes a 1.2-mile walking path, a splash pad, a skate park and disc golf. The city's listing adds basketball, handball and racquetball, picnic areas and a historical mural. The basketball court carries one of the park's most photographed surfaces, a colorful mural by Arkansas artist Jeremy "Nvest" Navarette. KHBS 40/29 reported that it was painted in August 2023 through the AND1 "Paint The Park" initiative. KUAF reported that a Walker Park community mural depicts South Fayetteville history. Nvest came back for the reopening to lead art activities for children and adults.
Who paid for it, and what's still only a plan
The city puts the renovation at roughly $4 million to $5 million, and Jack told the Democrat-Gazette the city spent about $5 million. Most of the money came from the Park Improvement Bond that Fayetteville voters approved in April 2019. Park land dedication fees, hotel, motel and restaurant taxes, and the city's general fund covered the rest, according to the city's announcement.
Mayor Molly Rawn was candid at the ribbon-cutting about why Walker Park was chosen:
"But I will be honest, in recent years we have allowed some of our other parks to outshine Walker. That is why we had an opportunity to look at an established park and ask, how can it serve even more people. And now, today, I will put this park up against any other park in our city."
The Democrat-Gazette reported her remarks.
Phase One is only the beginning. Jack named three items planned for future phases: a streamside connection to one of the playgrounds, a climbing wall, and forest restoration. TSW's summary of the adopted plan goes further. It includes an Adventure Zone with a Treetop Quest course, small and large dog parks, and upgrades to the disc golf course, horseshoe area and splash pad. No public schedule or budget has been attached to any of these yet. For now, they belong in the "on the drawing board" column. Until a later phase is funded, the park does not have a dedicated dog park, and the city's parks FAQ lists the general rule: dogs on a leash, and owners clean up after them.
Part of a bigger fall for Ward 1 and the city's parks
Walker Park is the second of three park celebrations Fayetteville scheduled this fall. Bryce Davis Park marked its improvements in September, and the new Underwood Park has its opening celebration this Sunday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m.
On 15th Street, the park isn't the only project. The city's new animal shelter is planned just across the street, and council member Bob Stafford told the Democrat-Gazette that both projects add to the kind of infrastructure Ward 1 needs. Councilman Scott Berna described the park as "at the end of its life before the renovation," and said it has "revitalized the area."
If you organize a club, a youth team or a weekend tournament, the city rents its multipurpose fields, sand volleyball courts and tennis courts for tournaments through a Special Event Form, available by calling Parks at 479-444-3471. The city says fees vary by facility, the number of fields, maintenance needs and use of the lights. The city's Walker Park Improvements page is the place to check for updates as later phases take shape.
A park built for many uses changes how the blocks around it feel, and we pay close attention to how buyers notice those changes. If your home is a short walk from 15th Street and you'd like to know how it might present to buyers now that Walker Park has reopened, Marla Roberds can start with a free home valuation, or we can talk through staging and remodel options together.
