By Deangelo McDaniel
Staff Writer

HARTSELLE — One word: wonderful.

That’s what project manager Bob Francis said after learning that Hartselle received a $45,000 grant for the John Mark Stallings Special Needs Accessible Playground.

Gov. Bob Riley notified the city that the National Park Service had approved Hartselle’s application and money would be coming through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

“ I want to thank you for working with me to improve the state’s outdoor recreation resources,” Riley wrote.

Since 2002, several Hartselle civic organizations have been raising money to complete what is known as SNAP.

Every government entity in Morgan County passed resolutions supporting the project.

Francis inherited the goal of raising more than $500,000 when the project had less than $10,000.

He said the $45,000 grant will allow volunteers to complete Phase 2, which is a splash pad with an estimated cost of between $200,000 and $240,000.

“We have been waiting to hear about this grant,” he said. “We are ready to bid the project and hopefully have it ready for next summer.”

Largest donation

The grant comes almost two months after SNAP received its largest donation from a small business.

For almost two years, Coldwell Banker Team Hartselle Real Estate employees gave a percentage of their commissions until the company raised $10,000.

They also gave money to SNAP instead of exchanging Christmas gifts.

Civitans started fundraising to construct an adaptive playground at Sparkman Park in early 2002.

In 2006, the Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary clubs joined Civitans in an effort to raise more than $500,000 to construct the play area.

An aggressive fundraising campaign allowed SNAP to draft engineering drawings and raise $31,000 for Phase 1, which is a swing area that opened in May 2008.

Phase 3 is a 95,000-square-foot contemporary playground with wraps and raised platforms for wheelchairs.

It is estimated to cost about $365,000.