Grant helps put finishing touch on Worthville’s park

Work is complete on the installation of the new play surface in Worthville City Park, funded with the help of a 2012 Waste Tire Crumb Rubber grant.

Jeff Moore/The News-Democrat

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Jeff Moore/The News-Democrat

Volunteers help spread crumb rubber on the playground at Worthville City Park. The rubber, which provides a safer surface for children, was purchased with a state grant and matching city funding.

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Worthville received the $8,105 grant – 75 percent of the $12,680 project – from the Kentucky Energy and Enviroment Cabinet to pay for the project, which was intended to provide a protective, safe surface for its municipal park playground.

The city is providing a 25 percent match of $4,575 in the form of cash and volunteer in-kind services.

“This drives home the point that we want to try to make a difference in someone’s life, especially children,” Mayor Janie Thomas said, adding that her goal is to make Worthville a better place for every child who lives within the city limits.

A soft, bouncy surface, crumb rubber helps protect children playing on the equipment in the city park from injuries. It doesn’t have to be replaced as often as sand or wood mulch, so it is more cost effective for the city, officials said in a previous news release.

The city received a lot of help from the community to complete the project, Worthville Clerk Steven Scherer said.

George Marsh and Chad Marsh, owners of G&C Marsh & Sons LLC, donated $3,775 in-kind use of equipment, along with an  operator and three volunteers to assist in this project, Scherer said. They spread a total of 47,040 pounds of crumb rubber purchased from Elements of Play out of Hopkinsville.

Additionally, 14 citizens, including several children, volunteered to help spread the rubber.

A sign recognizing the contributions of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and the City of Worthville was installed at the playground.

The grant was written by Joan Moore, former executive director of the Carroll County Community Development Corporation, which also was a partner in the project.

“We are very grateful to the cabinet for this grant,” Moore said.

Kentuckians generate about 4 million scrap tires per year and reuse about 3 million, she said.

Projects like this one in Worthville are part of a state effort to create higher-use waste tire markets.

Discarded tires cause problems in landfills, pollute waterways, and can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can transmit diseases including the West Nile virus to humans, Moore said.