SLIPPERY ROCK — Walking trails will come to the Slippery Rock Community Park, provided it gets the state grant it recently applied for.

The Department of Community and Economic Development grant would total $287,500, with the park providing $43,125 of that money, said park director Mary Messer. The park would use the grant to build two miles of trails.

“I think it would really enhance what’s offered at the park,” Messer said.

As a part of the Northwestern Butler County Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan in the late 2000s, a survey conducted in and around Slippery Rock asked what residents would like to see in parks. One of the top requests was for walking trails.

The project would have four phases.

Phase one would connect the park office to the softball fields. Phase two would connect the softball fields to the football field and amphitheater. Phase three would connect the park office to the football field and amphitheater. A fourth phase would venture out into more distant parts of the 65-acre park.

The trails would be 8 feet wide, made of gravel and have benches placed alongside. Additionally, there will be a few “fitness stations,” where people will have an opportunity to do exercises, such as pull ups, located along the trails.

The park applied for a similar grant last year, but did not get it.

Messer said that most of the parks that got the grant last year were in the eastern part of the state, so she is optimistic that more parks from the western part of the state will get one this year.

“You never know how it works,” Messer said. “I think it’s great that the state is continuing with the grant process.”

She said that the park already is heavily used, and trails would add to the use.

As an example, she said parents who drop their child off for sport practices at the park could stay and use the trails. She also said the trails would promote health and wellness.

If the grant is awarded, Messer hopes to be able to seek bids in April and start construction in August. Construction could be finished in April 2016.