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Volunteers sought to help build new park
Now the task facing members of the Pine City Park Committee is to recruit volunteers to help with raising funds for and helping build the new park. The city of Jackson has set aside nine acres of land behind the New Era softball fields for the park. The city will provide the property and liability insurance. On Tuesday, May 8, John Dean of Leathers and Associates, the company overseeing the project, told a group of children and adults gathered in the GES gym for the design day finale that the park would be built in five days by community volunteers. "We come in on Wednesday and by Sunday afternoon we are cutting the ribbon," he said. "We have built hundreds of these playgrounds worldwide and it's amazing to watch a community come together and do one of these projects. We will need skilled and unskilled people of all ages to get this done. And we will need tools."
"Fifteen to 20 years after the park is built people will still be talking about this," said Dean. "We want all ages involved . We will need artists to help this playground say 'Jackson.' Different aspects of Jackson will be incorporated into the playground's theme." A total of 150 pictures were drawn for the design day contest. Twenty winners, whose ideas will be incorporated into the playground, were chosen. They were each presented with free T-shirts during last Tuesday's meeting. The design day winners were Makenzie Etheredge, Ricky Jackson, Alex Grafton, Andrew Hall, Alyssa Arrington, Rebecca Carlisle, Trey West, Carlie Roberts, Jordan Ryser, Ivan Stallworth, Ty Sullivan, Jamia Kidd, Carmen Jones, Katelyn Sullivan, Tyler Abston, Ethan Salter, Ben Sherrod, Tamia Gillmore, Amber Roper and Morgan Anderson. Some of their ideas to be incorporated into the playground area of the park include A castle mirror maze, tree fort, paper mill rock climb, pirate ship, trampoline bridge, tube slide, sings, and a fire truck mist sprayers. On Feb. 13 Nancy McDonald, Asbury Daffin and Johnny Heritage, representing the Pine City Park Committee, pitched their idea for building a three to five acre city park to the Jackson City Council during its regular meeting. "We want something more than just a playground," said McDonald during her comments to the council. During the May 8 meeting at GES, Mayor Richard Long told those attending, "We always say we want to give our kids better than we had. This is the way we do it. People like Nancy make it happen." Other areas of the park are planned to include a pavilion with picnic tables and plenty of space for birthday parties and other events; picnic tables and grills scattered around the pavilion; a dancing fountain to provide a way to stay cool in the summer; pet-friendly walking trails; a hiking trail; restroom facilities and outside showers. The city of Jackson will be responsible for providing street access to the new park, along with parking areas. The city will also provide long-term maintenance, including garbage collection and cleaning of the restrooms. A municipal account has been opened by the city for the Pine City Park project. All donations to the park are tax deductible. Those who wish to donate should make out checks to the Pine City Park Project and can be given to any committee member, turned in at city hall or mailed to: Pine city Park Project, P.O. Box 1096, Jackson, AL 36545. The city will also request a $30,000 grant from the Clarke County Recreation Board to assist in funding the park. Aseparate grant has also been applied for from Hamburger Helper, which helps fund community projects such as this one.
Those wishing to volunteer to assist with fund-raising or building the park can contact Nancy McDonald at 246-4311 or 246- 8263.
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