Earp Park redesign would honor veterans

submitted illustration The Nevada parks board plans to install a veterans memorial similar to this in Earp Park as one of the capital improvement projects paid for with money from the city's 1/2 cent parks and recreation sales tax. The parks board is planning to reinstall the veterans mural -- "Vernon County Valor," which was torn from its former location on Cedar Street during a storm in June -- on the west wall of the Public Safety building, which will be behind the memorial.

Earp Park, located just west of Nevada's Public Safety Building on Austin Boulevard, may soon be home to a new memorial for veterans from all wars, as well as the city's veterans' mural. The mural was located on the side of Ring TV and Appliance until it was damaged by a storm earlier this year.

Parks board members Gina Cripps, Frankie Davis and Shirley Bastow have been working for the last year to develop a new design for Earp Park and during their Nov. 5 meeting the parks board voted to approve the concept and to ask the city council for permission to seek bids for the project, which is estimated to cost $20,000. This is one of the projects to be paid for with money from the city's 1/2 cent park and recreation sales tax.

"This is a more realistic design than the one we presented last year. The park will have a Victorian ambiance, with a special tribute to veterans," Gina Cripps told the board.

She said the project will include remodeling the existing shelter house, building a handicap accessible uni-sex restroom, installing concrete benches, installing attractive wrought iron fencing at the corners, painting the caboose and adding an iron eagle to the fountain.

The city council approved installing the veterans' mural on the Public Safety Building during their Nov. 4 meeting.

"We've tried very hard to come up with a design that is durable and less expensive," she said.

She said that the design incorporates Victorian style lighting and uses hardy plants.

"Everything is low maintenance," she said.

Cripps, Davis and Bastow developed the concept and worked with local landscaper Justin Fisher to come up with the finished design they presented to the board. In a related matter the board accepted the request from the Nevada Rotary Club to adopt Earp Park as a club project.