Grant money continues to roll in to Jim Thorpe borough for the implementation of a master site plan at Memorial Park.

The municipality learned this week it will receive $171,000 for Phase 2 of the project, which includes the construction of pedestrian walkways; installation of play equipment for ages 5-12, a sensory garden, and utilities; Americans with Disabilities Act access, landscaping, project sign and other related site improvements.

Funding comes courtesy of a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources recreation grant and will go toward the estimated Phase 2 cost of $333,760.

“When we started this, we spent around $20,000 toward the master site plan for Memorial Park and there were some initial concerns about budgeting that kind of money,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “But we did it because we knew we could use that plan to go out for grants that would help make this a reality. This is exactly they way we hoped this would play out and we’re very pleased with the return on that first investment.”

The borough received a combined $287,000 for Phase 1 of the project from three different sources including DCNR and the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Phase 1, for which the borough hopes to start design work soon, will include new playground equipment for children in the 2- to 5-year-old age range.

New playground equipment was one of the top 10 park amenities ranked as extremely important by survey respondents as Jim Thorpe was developing a Master Site Plan.

Other amenities ranked as extremely important included additional lighting, additional restrooms, veteran memorials, a community center, more benches, family summer programs, walking trails, a skating rink and bike racks. The full Memorial Park Master Site Plan is available on the borough website at www.jtborough.org.