Construction is underway for a splash pad near the Franklin Pool, one of many projects underway by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department to improve local recreational opportunities. The splash pad is being built with a matching $100,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The splash pad is just one of many projects receiving attention by the City’s Parks and Rec Department. Among other projects is a partnership between the county and city to potentially add another park off the Gap Creek Road, which would include softball and baseball fields, picnic pavilions, walking trail, and dog park. Also, new playground equipment is being installed at Riverside Park.
Another project of the department involves a partnership with students at Appalachian State University for design and improvements at the Covered Bridge Park and Edwards Island.
Just as water, sewer and public safety are considered essential public services, parks and recreation are vitally important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life in a community and contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of the area. Our parks, which include the Roan Mountain and Sycamore Shoals State Parks in addition to community parks, offer countless benefits to residents. They serve as an affordable place for people to exercise, enjoy nature and spend time with their family and friends.
Adding to the mix of state and local parks is the Tweetsie Trail, which runs through Elizabethton, the Elizabethton Linear Path, and Riverside Park, home to the Elizabethton Twins, which is also scheduled for improvements.
Recreational facilities such as the Cat Island, Kiwanis, and Riverside Parks are a core part of the fabric of the community.
Our state parks and the Tweetsie Trail attract tourists as does Riverside Park.
Research indicates that people don’t move to a community because of the water quality or how often trash is picked up. And while safety is important, it is usually not the main reason someone moves to a town. Included in the many amenities newcomers are looking for are recreation opportunities.
Often, because parks and recreation departments are a quality-of-life issue, not a public safety one, they are constantly on the chopping block for funds. However, so much of who we are starts in parks. Our first introduction to nature, environmental preservation, culture, history — everything about who we are as a country was rooted early in the national parks program kick started by FDR because he understood the importance of preserving our environment for recreation.
No doubt many of our children played their first baseball game at a city park. Parks are perfect for picnics, family outings, and even concerts, which have been a part of the Covered Bridge Park agenda for the past two summers. Parks benefit everyone in the community. They benefit the economy.
But, most of all they benefit people. They are a fun place to visit. Parks are a place to relax, to watch a ballgame, to meet up with friends, to picnic. They are places filled with the shouts and laughter of children. Our city parks for a brief time in the work day provide a respite from the cares of the world.
The many things going on in the City’s Parks and Rec Department is refreshing. And, Elizabethton is showing the ability to tackle these and other issues with spirit, thoughtfulness and vision.