(KAIR)--The more than $414,000 dollars earmarked for Atchison through the 2023 Community Development Block Grant program has been awaited by the City to make long-discussed upgrades to Atchison's LFM Park.

Announcement of the award came Wednesday, with Atchison among a total of 24 communities in rural Kansas counties set to receive a share of nearly $7.9 million in federal grants to assist with community development projects.

Atchison's $414,380 will be matched by the City of Atchison, bringing the total to $828,760.

According to Atchison Public Works & Utilities Director, Clinton McNemee, the intended scope of work at the northside park includes a splash pad, picnic shelter improvements, play equipment, basketball court lighting, and off-street accessible parking, along with other general accessibility improvements, and miscellaneous amenities.

A timeline for the start of the work isn’t immediately finalized.

According to a release from the office of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, the CDBG program's federal funds are awarded to projects that will benefit low and moderate-income persons, prevent or eliminate slums and blight, and those projects that will resolve an urgent need that communities are not able to do on their own.