RANDOLPH – Triangle Park may become a location for community interaction.

The Randolph Planning Board presented design ideas to the town board for the ongoing Triangle Park project that has been taking place in the town since this past summer. Planning Board Chairman Kyle Brown and guest member Mark Messinger presented the town with four grant opportunities that the town could decide on.

Two of the grant opportunities were already approved as funding sources by the planning board in April.

The goal is to beautify and/or improve the area of Triangle Park located at the intersection of Jamestown and Main streets near downtown Randolph. Since last year, the town has been in discussion about using the area for either a new community space or private development.

However, Brown and Messinger said in their discussions with the planning board that residents have been receptive to one community project in particular. Ideas brought forward to the town board or initiated by its members included a gazebo, a public park, restrooms, a mural, a small amphitheater and a U.S. military veterans memorial. Ideas were also presented to use water and electricity in order to accommodate either community or private development.

“Most people like the idea of green space or a gathering space,” Brown said. “A lot of people like the idea of the mural.”

Were the town to incorporate a public use area it would also be allowed to encourage regular community activities. Examples include events such as an arts and crafts festival, historic fair and similar organized and community supported items.

Members were especially interested in the idea of a mural presentation.

“That is an excellent way to use encourage community cooperation and contributions,” Brown said.

One option is the Appalachian Regional Commission, which provides grant funding for communities in 13 states that are included in the Appalachian region and its geographically involved counties.

In New York, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties are among 14 counties eligible for application of grant awards through the organization.

ARC provides grant awards with a maximum amount of $150,000. Areas funded include asset-based funding, community infrastructure, energy, tourism, transportation and highways and similar municipality concerns.

Based on the information provided, the town approved of the application of the ARC grant by the planning board. The town has until June 3 to apply for ARC funding.

Brown and Messinger also said the board is eligible to apply for grants from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundations at a maximum of $10,000; the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation at a maximum of $600,000; and the McLaughlin Family Fund for a maximum of $2,500.

The grants from ARC and CRCF were the two funding sources which received planning board approval in April.

In other news, the board also received word from Town Clerk Gretchen Hind that the town was approved a grant prize by the New York State Department of Transportation of $2,012,646. The money will be used to improve a 2-mile portion of Main Street. The area involved will encompass a 2-mile radius around the Randolph Central School District grounds. Projects will include new street lights, sidewalks, solar-powered street signs, new plants and bike racks. Hind said the town has yet to receive any information on what the next steps of the project will encompass.