City grant will pay for fence between Menard’s, neighborhood
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, March 11, 2026
A fence separating Menards from the Eastland Park residential area is shown on Thursday, Oct. 2.
A privacy fence that will fill a gap between land owned by Menard’s and the Eastland Park subdivision is one of several projects on the way after city government last week approved the spring 2026 round of the city’s Strategic Neighborhood Grant Fund.
More than $39,000 was awarded to neighborhoods across Bowling Green for projects that residents will complete over the coming year. Six thousand dollars was approved for Eastland Park’s fence project, one that comes after a series of complaints were made last year about homeless people trespassing through backyards in the area.
“When I open my back door, I look both ways,” resident Hannah Tibbs told the city last year. ” … imagine looking in your backyard and there’s just a stranger standing (in the) dead center of your backyard.”
Residents in the area reported finding drug paraphernalia on their properties and, on occasion, tire tracks through yards. A fence was constructed by Menards after the retail giant opened up, but the fence left a gap at an adjoining parcel for people to get through.
Menard’s never completed the fence, despite requests from neighbors and city officials. Since government cannot force construction, residents were urged to apply for neighborhood grant funding.
This project and ten others received grant funding for the spring cycle.
“These are neighbor-led projects with neighborhood backing,” Leyda Becker, Community Engagement Division manager, told commissioners last Tuesday.
The program started in 1999 and exists to fund projects that the city ordinarily would not do. Funding can be applied for by homeowners or renters and by neighborhood associations, homeowners associations and nonprofits working in a neighborhood association.
Sixty thousand dollars is allocated for the program each year, split down the middle for fall and spring cycles. With extra money left over, the city awarded $42,000 in funding for 10 projects last fall and $39,000 was awarded for 11 projects this spring.
Becker told officials that eight of the 10 projects awarded last year are now complete.
“It’s a really good testament of how the program is working,” she said.
Along with the Eastland Park fence, projects funded for the spring include:
- $2,000 for the Barnwood Neighbors/Karenni Traditional Festival;
- $3,500 for the Burr Oaks lighting improvement project;
- $925 for the Callaway Gardens island restoration;
- $5,000 for the redrafting of the Crossridge Preservation Association bylaws;
- $5,250 to update mailboxes in Fieldstone Farms;
- $2,000 for beautification of the Highland Way/Westen Street roundabout;
- $6,000 for a sign for the Hillvue Mills neighborhood;
- $4,000 to repair the sign at McFadden’s Ferry;
- $2,790 for tree removal for the Pleasant Colony homeowner’s association, and;
- $1,950 for a beautification project in Pointe Court.
About Jack Dobbs
Jack covers city government for the Daily News. Originally from Simpson County, he attended Western Kentucky University and graduated in 2022 with a degree in journalism.
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