Little Rock opens new accessible playground and North Ravine trail at Alsop Park

Little Rock City officials and Parks staff formally opened a new accessible playground at Alsop Park and unveiled a North Ravine trail during a morning ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Parks Director Leland Couch led the event and said the neighborhood park is one of the city’s most heavily used, estimating "about 150,000 users a year," and listing amenities from tennis courts to a pavilion and a softball field used by the Hillcrest softball league. He invited children to try the new equipment and led the ribbon cutting.

The mayor, speaking at the ceremony, thanked the Parks Department, recognized State Representative Tippie McCullough and City Manager Delphon Hubbard, and said the project was paid for with Renewal Little Rock 2020 bonds approved by voters and supported through property tax millage. "The people of Little Rock paid for this," the mayor said, thanking voters for renewing the bond funding that helped finance the work.

Kathy Webb, identified in remarks as city director, congratulated the Parks Department and said staff had sought and incorporated substantial citizen input into the designs and improvements. Couch also noted volunteer efforts, including work by Keep Little Rock Beautiful on a new pollinator garden and a volunteer-installed sculpture.

Officials described the project as part of a continuing effort to maintain and improve the city's park system, which the mayor said includes 63 parks. Couch cited master-plan work by landscape architect John Nolan and emphasized the park’s long history, saying Alsop Park has been in the system since the 1920s.

The ceremony was brief because of hot weather; it concluded with a ribbon cutting and children using the new playground.