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Advocates of city park pitch idea to council
"We want something more than just a playground," said McDonald during her comments to the council. "We have gotten a lot of calls from people voicing their support for this project." M c D o n a l d said the hope is to have a large enough tract of land to have a basketball court, large pavilion, walking/jogging track, smaller picnic areas and a playground for all ages to enjoy. She went on to say that she had been talking with a company which has built such parks elsewhere in the state. "They use wood composite structures and want children to help design it by telling them what they want," she said. "The design is normally based on the history of the area where it is built, kind of like a theme. Here elements of the wood and logging industry might be incorporated." Estimated cost for the type park the committee is hoping to create is around $500,000. "We want the private and business sectors to both be involved," said McDonald. "We want help from the entire community in raising the funds for this project. We have been looking at different grant opportunities and have already found some." "That may sound like a lot of money," said Daffin, "but it is a small price to pay for our children. We should invest in this for our children. We want to invest in Jackson and make it the best small city in Alabama in which to live. When companies look at locating somewhere, recreation opportunities are one of the first things they look for. If we want to attract younger people to live here we need to offer those opportunities." "We need to teach our children to invest in the future as well," added McDonald. Heritage said, "We would love to have a park like this and would love to work with the city on obtaining it." Mayor Richard Long asked if the entire park had to be built all at once. McDonald explained that it could be built in phases. "We could purchase the property and start with one component and build out from there," she said. Long requested that the committee draft a letter to the council telling them exactly what type of participation they hope to get from the city and what the committee is willing to do. A crowd of at least 50 people were in attendance in support of the park effort. During the public comments portion of the council meeting, several spoke about another possible element that had not been mentioned. "I would like to propose a skating park," said Caleb McKee. "Like myself, there are a number of kids who aren't that active in sports, but enjoy skating." Mike Sherrod agreed. "There have been times when the law has been called by people complaining about kids skating on the sidewalks or in the streets," he said. "It would be nice if they had a park they could go to for that activity." Mayor Long asked if such a park would be for roller skates or skateboarding. Sherrod said it would be for both.
Long thanked McKee and Sherrod for their comments and interest in attending the meeting.
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