HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Construction on Lantana Park along North Memorial Parkway is coming along. Huntsville leaders took a look at the progress being made on Monday.
Crews recently expanded the park north at the old Rose of Sharon Soup Kitchen location.
Public Works demolished the buildings where the park will sit. Huntsville's Landscape Management Department is planting 11 trees, 31 shrubs, and 15 flowers at the park. Arts Huntsville and the City are working together to get murals up.
One mural already stands on the south end of the park. The mural titled "Soar High" was done by artist, Daria Hammond.
"It's about creativity and I believe with this park, that's what it screams, creativity," said Hammond. "They talked about a few more walls that are going to come up with other artists, and this is really the start of it, the start of the artwork."
Huntsville City Council President Devyn Keith said, "We wanted to have a walkway that's ADA compliant. We wanted a lot of people to have shade on a hot day like this, but you also want to have a place where people can showcase their talents and their abilities."
The city realized the area along North Memorial Parkway was struggling. About four years ago, they started the process to help it thrive.
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said, "One of the things that became apparent as you came in here, there were a lot of older, older buildings that had serviced their economic life and were not able to keep up with the economy of the times."
Lantana Park is all part of a bigger plan.
"The revitalized plan we put together about three years ago started with assessing places where we could inject public space, green space, and also places that we can redevelop," said Keith. "We wanted to do a mixture of things. You don't always want to flood the Parkway or any other industrial places with buildings."
With the construction of the park, several businesses are looking at new opportunities in the area.
WATCH: Huntsville leaders talk more about Lantana Park
