Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsTaylor Shipley, 17, completes his Eagle Scout project Saturday by repairing, landscaping and washing the entrance to Hobson Grove Park.

Improving the entrance to Hobson Grove was a win-win proposition for the city, and for Taylor Shipley.

It got the park and golf course entryway ready for next month’s Par Makers golf tournament, and was the last big step for Shipley, 17, to earn the status of Eagle Scout.

But it was a close-run thing. Boy Scouts have to complete a community service project before they turn 18 to become Eagle Scouts, and Shipley said his 18th birthday is coming Aug. 3.

So he spent Saturday morning digging and trimming, joined by his parents, other members of Boy Scout Troop 79, some of their parents and Bowling Green Parks and Recreation employees.

Shipley said he started working Monday as a city backhoe dug out the old shaggy plants in front of the park’s brick entrance pillars.

“It was overgrown. You really couldn’t see the signs,” said Troop 79 Scoutmaster Ernie Gouvas, who’s also the city Parks and Recreation director.

Shipley dug out the layer of brick gravel under the old plants, and came back Saturday to pressure-wash the brickwork and put in new landscaping. A city Bobcat waited with a scoop full of mulch for a final layer as he carefully shaped small shrubs under direction of Jay Dougherty, city arborist.

The work was tough, but it took less time than he thought, Shipley said.

Taylor and six of his friends came into Boy Scouts as 11-year-olds, and Taylor is the final one of the seven to become an Eagle Scout, Gouvas said. He took time to play high school football, so it took him a bit longer, but this project will improve the entrance to the park, historic Riverview house and Hobson Grove Golf Course, Gouvas said.

On Saturday, the troop worked to place adagio grass on the outside edge, small evergreen bushes next to the brick pillars and heuchera flowers in front, Shipley said. The city supplied some of the plants, and Shipley provided the rest, Gouvas said.

Shipley said he originally planned to clear a trail behind Riverview, then realized that job was too big. But on the way to that site, he noticed that the park entrance was overgrown.

His mother, Julie Shipley, thanked the rest of the troop for helping him reach Eagle Scout before he heads to Western Kentucky University this fall.

“I’m just glad everyone’s hung with him, and encouraged him to get it finished,” she said.