Increasing costs led to increased funding for a city park to be built at the Hays Farm development in south Huntsville.

The city council on Thursday approved an additional $1 million for the park, raising its commitment to $4.6 million. The Hays family is developing more than 500 acres of family-owned land along Haysland Road that will include hundreds of high-end homes as well as office and retail space.

Hylis Inc., a company owned by John Hays, is also contributing $1 million to park funding – giving the park a total budget of $5.6 million. The family is gifting the nine acres for the park to the city. Hylis is also designing the park at their own expense.

“As we’ve worked with (Hylis) and gone into design, what we really recognize is just based on where things are with supply chains and inflation and things, ($3.6 million) was not going to generate the kind of park that we really need in this part of the city and for this particular development. And so it’s necessary to work with them to find a way to make that budget a good bit healthier.”

With the addition of $2 million for the park, funding increased about 36%.

The park is expected to be a centerpiece of the Hays Farm development. It will be located on the south side of Haysland Road behind Home Depot between The Liam – a 330-unit luxury apartment complex that’s under construction — and Grissom High School. The park will include a man-made lake as well as retail and restaurant components by New York-based Camden Securities.

On the western border of the park will be an office park where Freedom Real Estate & Capital is planning to build a three-story, multi-tenant office building. There will also be space for a second office building.

Design for the park is expected to be completed next month and construction starting by the end of the summer.

“The Hays Farm Central Park will be an anchor for all the redevelopment occurring along the South Parkway,” Councilwoman Jennie Robinson said in a statement. The development is in her south Huntsville district. “It will create an iconic sense of place and serve as a gathering point for the community.”

In his own statement, Mayor Tommy Battle said, “We anticipate the surrounding community to use this beautiful space as they would Big Spring Park.”