FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) -- Northwest Arkansas now has a new park with something for everyone to enjoy.
Kessler Mountain Regional Park in Fayetteville opened Saturday (August 20).
The city has been planning to open this park since 2002.
Phase one is 60 of the total 200 acre park and it has soccer and baseball fields as well as the 350 acres of the Ozark National Forest.
Matt Mihalevich said he’s excited to have this amazing place for his kids to grow up visiting and playing.
“I think it’s neat to have the connection with the woods too," Mihalevich said. "So a perfect day could be a combination of maybe the more program recreation and also a hike on Kessler Mountain.”
Mayor Lioneld Jordan said the park opening is a historic day for Fayetteville.
“We’re all part owners of the city and we move it forward together and today we have stepped to another level," Jordan said. "What we’ve done here today will be remembered…and if this city lasts ten thousand years, they’ll remember the day we opened this regional park.”
Alderaman for ward three Justin Tennant thinks this park will be one of the top five parks in the national once it is complete.
“With the addition of these brand new fields, we’ve got places for kids to play for the next hundred years and this park has been built with such a high standard and such high quality that I truly believe it will last for generations,” Tennant said.
The next phases of the park will include basketball and tennis courts and more parking. There will also be buildings for cultural and musical entertainment.