Residents of Hot Sulphur Springs will see a completely renovated town park by next fall, a project that’s been a long time in the making.

As part of a project initiated last week, the town will install a new playground, barbecue and fire pit, volleyball court, ice rink and resurface its extremely worn tennis courts. The project also included the installation of a new sprinkler system, which has already been completed.

A bulk of the project’s funds come from a Greater Outdoors Colorado grant that the town received this spring, according to Sally DiSciullo, member of the Hot Sulphur Springs town council.

The town is set to receive more than $153,000 from the grant, with the town and its partners — the Grand County Board of Commissioners and funding from Hot Sulphur Days — matching cumulatively up to nearly $51,000.

The first phase of the construction began earlier this month with the removal of some of the current playground’s ailing equipment and continued last week with the demolition of the park’s tennis courts. The project is scheduled for completion by the fall of 2018.

Updated landscaping will be added at the conclusion of the project.

Pioneer Park, located just across the Colorado River from the town park, has already received new picnic tables and camping area signage from the grant funds. As part of the recreational improvement projects, the town is also slated to rehab the disc golf course in Pioneer Park with trail maintenance and new signage.