A new park will appear in Iowa City as a place to enjoy nature — the area even has a Disney seal of approval.

The Riverfront Crossings Park, which will be located on South Clinton Street, is under construction. Recently, the project received a $50,000 “Meet Me in the Park” grant from the National Recreation and Park Association and the Walt Disney Co.

Juli Seydell Johnson, the city director of Parks and Recreation, said she saw the opportunity to apply for the grant and felt it was a good fit for the Riverfront Crossings project.

Seydell Johnson said one of the goals of the grant was to give people accessibility to parks, and Riverfront Crossings’ location not far from downtown would allow the park to be close to many members of the community.

The Park Association believes the Iowa City location matched the goals and spirit of the grant as well, said Marla Collum, the senior manager of the group’s programs. The overall goal of the grant is to give 1 million kids and their families access to a place to increase physical activity and outdoor play, she said.

These ideals have been a part of the Park Association partnership with Disney, she said, which started three years ago.

“[The association and Disney] have a close aligned and shared vision for creating healthy spaces that are creative and fun,” said Heather Williams, the association senior manager of public relations at the association.

Collum said the Park Association saw more than 240 applications for the grant, and 25 applicants across the country were chosen.

“We were looking for places of geographical diversity with underserved communities and what their solutions were to increase play in their area,” she said.

Collum said the Park Association liked that Riverfront Crossings was close to a college campus, as well as the transformative process the area was undergoing.

The location of the park used to be a water-treatment plant, Seydell Johnson said, and the plant was moved after the facility was flooded in 2008.

A few months ago, she said, Phase 1 of the park construction began, which included reshaping the land around the park, utilizing the five acres of wetlands around the area, and redirecting the creek.

Seydell Johnson said Phase 2 of the construction will see the beginnings of the nature play area, which will include a tumbling hill with a tunnel, obstacles for kids to climb over, a teepee, and a patio area where kids can have access to splash around in the creek.

The play area will also be accessible to those who have disabilities, Seydell Johnson said. For example, she said there will be a dual zip line that will include a chair swing for those who may not be able to use the other zip line.

Riverfront Crossings does not currently have a completion date, she said, but said she’s very excited about the project overall.