Rip Robertson is the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Tucker.
July is National Parks and Recreation Month! The Parks and Recreation Department has grown tremendously over these past four years with completing park improvements, expanding old programs, and creating new programs and events for our community. Our team has done some amazing work on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. They continue to complete a tremendous amount of capital projects, work hard to produce fun and safe programs and events, and plan even more exciting things to come.
We have a new boardwalk from the parking area to the trail at Probst Park that has improved accessibility and allows for a safer hike around one of our many scenic trails. The recently completed Probst Memorial will provide many years of enjoyment, much like Mr. Probst did in developing the Smoke Rise neighborhood. It features the iconic chimney stack with a granite patio and a step-down observation deck overlooking the stream that runs through the middle of the park. A huge thank you goes out to the many friends of Bill Probst for funding this exciting treasure.
We were also busy improving access to our other parks. We added new sidewalks at Henderson and Rosenfeld Park. We also added parking around Rosenfeld to help both the park and the neighborhood.
There is a new playground at Rosenfeld Park, the first in the Smoke Rise neighborhood. We are also looking at other features in the area, including improving the tennis courts and adding a dog park as part of our City’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
We recently held a meeting for the possible development of a disc golf course at Lord Park and will be exploring other projects at this undeveloped location.
Fitzgerald Park is getting some much-needed improvements as well. We have contracts for new water/sewer lines to ensure that facilities, both existing and planned, function properly. We have also recently begun renovating the concession/restroom facility on Field #3 and will be adding new lighting as well. We recently hosted a community meeting to discuss further renovations at the park including ingress/egress, upgraded LED lighting on all fields, new scoreboards and sound as well as a possible turf field to serve as the main stadium for our youth sport programs. We hope to add a playground and, if space is available, a walking trail. There will also be new and renovated facilities on all fields at the completion of this exciting project.
We are also thrilled to have received a sizeable grant to help alleviate major erosion and lake issues at Johns Homestead Park. This grant will fund the replacement of the existing nonfunctioning dams and will restore proper flow of the stream through the lakes into the existing stream at the lower section of the park. This will also provide improved stormwater flow throughout the area to help protect against future flooding issues. This vital project also includes many improvements to the entire park with new playgrounds, walking trails, bridges, and boardwalks as well as new access and parking. This will be a park for the entire community to enjoy.
There will also be projects at Cofer Park to help the lake and add to our existing trail and PATH plans. We have funding available for the dredging of the lake to provide proper growth within the lake and surrounding area. We hope to get something started later this year and completed before next spring. There is also a plan to add a boardwalk across the lake near the dam to replace the challenging sidewalk that exists now. This boardwalk is part of the PATH plan adopted by our Mayor and Council several years ago. As you may have seen, our first segment of PATH is being completed downtown and should be ready by fall. This boardwalk will add a significant feature to Kelley Cofer Park and will provide a scenic view of one of our park lakes.
We encourage you to visit our newest addition to the Tucker Nature Preserve. We have installed beehives and have several Tucker beekeepers to both tend to their needs and also develop a learning environment. We hope to soon have new educational signage in the area and offer classes.
Lastly, you may have seen new signage at some of our parks. We are working on installing new signage at all the City of Tucker parks entrances. We plan to add educational, directional and assistance signage in the interior of all parks as well.
Come out and celebrate our month by visiting one of the many Tucker parks. And as always, you can contact us through our website at tuckerga.gov/parks or call us directly at the TRC at 470-481-0205.
