The Sunflower River weir project has received sufficient funding now that all of the interested parties have come on board.
Mac Crank, executive director of Clarksdale Revitalization, Inc., told the Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners Sept. 13 that the Delta Bridge Project is providing a $150,000 grant and Southern Bancorp has agreed to appropriate some $39,000 to complete the weir project.
Other entities contributing to the weir project are Coahoma County and Clarksdale, $50,000 each; the North Delta Municipal Joint Water Management District, $7,500, and the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District, $10,000.
The Yazoo Mississippi Delta Levee Board has agreed to offer in-kind support because it has the manpower and equipment. Dr. Dean Pennington, director of the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Water Management District, who will administer the project, said bids would be sought for the weir construction. That panel met last Wednesday at Stoneville.
Other Clarksdale Revitalization projects include a cultural walking trail and playground equipment. The Mississippi Transportation Commission has approved $530,000 toward the walking trail project that requires a 20 percent match from the city of Clarksdale bringing the total funding to about $660,000.
That project will include a cultural walking trail encompassing the Blues Trail markers, historic markers and the Walk of Fame plaques. That project will span from Tennessee Williams Park on Court Street to Mary Luther King Boulevard terminating at the Riverside Motel on Sunflower Avenue.
Crank said the kaBOOM playground project will be launched soon. It will be located on the grass between the depot and the Blues Museum.
“The public will have an opportunity to participate in the project,” Cranks said. Clarksdale Revitalization, Inc. will direct the project that will cost at least $75,000. “Several foundations will be contacted about the project,” Crank said.
The name “kaBOOM” is derived from the manner in which it is put together as volunteers gather to complete the setting up of the playground equipment. Darrell Hammon and Dawn Hutchinson founded kaBOOM in 1996. They built their first kaBOOM playground at Livingston Manor in southeast Washington, D.C.
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