Excelsior Springs Snow and Showers Bring a Century Bark Flower

A new work of art has sprouted up at Excelsior Springs’ dog park, Century Bark. A nearly 20-foot tall flower sculpture was installed last week near the park’s entrance along 69 highway, and the finishing touches of dangling bees were added Tuesday afternoon. Parks Superintendent, Chad Clevenger said he helped design the flower using bits and pieces left over from projects throughout the years. Parks and Recreation Director, Nate Williams had told Clevenger he’d like to see more art in the parks so Chad and his crew hauled the scrap metal into the shop, laid it out on the floor, and experimented with it until they came up with the flower design.

Clevenger, who has worked with the parks department since 2007, said that some of the scraps had been in storage, “since before he came on.” He credited his entire crew with the creation of the project. “Roger Pierson did most of the construction of it, but really, the whole department worked on it. We worked on it on rainy days, or especially on snowy days in the winter, where we couldn’t be out working on other stuff,” said Clevenger. When asked if there would be more flowers popping up in our parks he said “I doubt there’ll be more flowers, but we’ve got another project, and it may show up somewhere. It just depends on what time allows and what material comes about.”

With at least 19 parks and trails, Excelsior Springs is a great place to play and explore. Be sure to check out the website for Excelsior Springs’ Parks, Recreation, and Community Center for more information.