SNAP breaks ground for splash pad project

Hartselle’s Special Needs Assessment Playground (SNAP) has moved a step closer to completion with the breaking of ground for a Phase 2 “Splash Pad” in Sparkman Park. “We are celebrating a dream come true,” SNAP director Bob Francis told a crowd of supporters who attended a groundbreaking ceremony on the SNAP site May 4. “It’s all about providing a user-friendly playground for Morgan County’s approximately 1,700 kids with disabilities.”
Francis said the project is under contract to J.A. Dawson & Co. of Pelham at a cost of $224,000. A Phase 1 swing area was opened in 2008 and a Phase 3 playground is yet to be funded.
“Site preparation will begin immediately and the target date for opening is July 4,” he said.
Frances said in-kind services have been and will continue to be a big part of the project. Contributors he recognized included Hartselle Utilities, Morgan County Commission, Lee Y. Greene Associates Engineering and Surveying, Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon Engineering and Underwood Associates Architecture.
Contract administration and construction management will be provided by the city of Hartselle and Community Consultants of Huntsville.
The Morgan County Homebuilders Association has committed to build an entrance to the playground, Francis said.
The estimated $650.000 project was initiated in 2007 as a joint effort of Hartselle Kiwanis, Rotary and Civitan clubs.
First phase construction was completed in 2008 and subsequently the playground was dedicated in memory of John Mark Stallings, the son of former University of Alabama football coach Gene Stallings.