Progress on the preliminary plans for the improvements to Crossville's Garrison Park has been made and Tammy French, Crossville Parks and Recreation Department Director said that parts of the project will start going out to bid in about 45 days.
In addition to a large playground and splash pad, the existing basketball court will be resurfaced, sidewalks constructed and a multi-purpose building will be built. The building will house the pumps for the splash pad, 4 family restrooms and at the front will be a covered picnic pavilion.
Close up of plans for Phase 1 of Garrison Park
In the plan above you can see that there will be a large green space between the playground on the left and the splash pad on the right for play and frisbees and catch.
French said that the splash pad would be 53 feet wide and 78 feet long with a variety of water structures. A toddler area will be in one end and items for larger kids and even adults would be part of the installation. The splash pad feature will use recirculating water that is filtered and treated.
The playground is designed to be all-inclusive and will measure 60 feet wide and 100 feet long. It will include swings and a play structure with a variety of activities.
Plan showing the full park
In addition to oversight by Lose and Associates Engineers and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the project will be managed by a general contractor. The playground and splash pad are expected to be bid separately to firms that specialize in those installations. Work is expected to continue on the project much of this year.
Council Special Called Meeting January 23, 2018, at 5:15 PM
The Crossville City Council has a special called meeting set for Tuesday evening January 23 at 5:15 PM in Council Chambers at Crossville City Hall. The agenda includes routine items, a grant possibility, and discussion of a citywide hotel/motel tax.
Crossville City Hall
Most of the items on the agenda are routine consent agenda items that the council has acted on before including second reading of an ordinance discouraging smoking at Garrison Park and the ordinance establishing a sports council.
Council will also consider authorizing the application for a $10,000 grant to US Bank for specialized playground equipment as part of the improvements to Garrison Park. The grant is used for musical play items for both developmentally challenged and general population youth. No match is required for this grant.
The main item causing the special call appears to be a discussion on a resolution to the Tennessee General Assembly requesting the state allow Crossville to impose a hotel/motel tax to be earmarked for economic development and tourism funding. The discussion is to be lead by Councilman Danny Wyatt. Currently, there is a county hotel/motel tax authorized here.
The Crossville City Council will meet for their December monthly work session Tuesday, December 5th at 5:00 PM to discuss items including work currently underway at Garrison Park, the formation of a recreation advisory board, and parking needs in Downtown Crossville.
Two agenda items for Garrison Park will discuss a budget for the cost of the demolition currently underway and to declare leftover items such as metal doors surplus so they can be sold.
Demolition of Garrison Park underway
The budget item indicates that city staff thinks the estimate for the removal of the stadium was too low due to the tipping fees for disposal. The city plans to use the block and brick to fill in where the old Meadow Park Lake water treatment plant was located and tipping fees will be paid for wooden material to be disposed of. Some of the bricks will be preserved to create a wall to post photos of the original park when it hosted the professional baseball team. The estimated cost of demolition listed on the agenda item totals $20,000.
Items to be sold as scrap iron include doors, tin roofing and old fencing. The value is expected to be over $2.500.
Also, the possible formation of a Citizen Advisory Board for Parks and Recreation as recommended by the recreation master plan will be discussed. The agenda item on the formation of such a board says, “There have been three meetings to discuss the formation of the committee and its role. As the discussions have progressed, both the excitement and scope have heightened. This can be attributed to several factors. Two of the driving forces have been the high quality of facilities already established in the City and also the amount of untapped potential there is in the City and surrounding County. This has led the group to an understanding that it needs to reach beyond just the involvement of recreation activities, but the need to encompass support functions including the accommodations and food service community.”
Additional information provided to the council states, “The group sees their role as a promoter of the City and County to support existing opportunities, but also to step out and potentially add new opportunities. They see a need for a central clearinghouse to make sure tournaments and other events do not conflict with those in the City and County, or other activities nearby that could impact the success of our events. They would work with accommodation providers to assure that good deals were offered, rooms filled, and incentives provided to allow us to compete with other communities.
Membership structure of this committee is envisioned as interested community leaders, with support and input from City, County, and State Park staff as needed. The group also feels there needs to be representation from each of the following formal and informal groups: Lake Commission, Trails Community, Shooting Sports Park, Hotel-Motel Industry, Convention and Visitors Bureau, and several members from the community-at-large who can represent interests including, golf, basketball, softball/baseball, soccer, agritourism, flag football, etc.”
After looking at the remainder of the old handle mill property near downtown as possible parking, the city engineering staff has studied some other properties as potential parking locations for downtown. The study looked at the assessed value versus the number of spaces that could be added and the cost per space ranges from a high of almost $5000 per space down to just under $1000 per space. These costs are only estimated not including any site preparation costs or the fair market value of the property but simply a way to compare possible solutions.
Potential locations for downtown Crossville parking
Other items on the work session agenda include discussion of an application for a Community Wildlife Habitat program, change the version of building and energy conservation codes from 2009 to 2012 as required by the state, discussion on the contract for signalization of the intersection at West Avenue and Fourth Street.
Bleachers used for Baseball and early County Fair Events
to be replaced by new park attractions.
Crossville city crews have been working this week to begin the process of recreating Garrison Park using state grant funds to improve the centrally located park.
The removal of the 60 year old bleachers has been controversial as some wanted to see the structure saved but because work to improve the bleachers would require upgrades to ADA standards, the city council decided to remove them.
Plans for the park include a picnic area, playground, walking trail, basketball courts and a public restroom facility. The cost of the park redevelopment totals approximately $1 million with the state grant covering half the cost or $500,000.
Final design plans for the park are currently being prepared and bids on the project are expected to go out in early Spring 2018. Plans are that the baseball field A will be retained at the park. Original plans called for a multi-purpose field as phase 2 of the park redevelopment.
The Crossville city council finally
approved the third and final reading of a budget amendment needed to
approve payment for work already done and paid for as part of the
Garrison Park redevelopment project. One council member opposed the
measure based on the project requiring that the fence around the park
be removed.
The council started second guessing the
project after discovering details that had been previously provided
to them in agenda materials including that the fence around the park
would be removed. The other controversy in the project is the
removal of the grandstand built in the late 1940s that is in
disrepair and unable to meet ADA requirements for handicapped access.
Prior to the July council meeting, members review the
Garrison Park concept plan. L-R Pamala Harris,
Mayor James Mayberry, J.H. Graham, city manager Greg Wood
and Scot Shanks.
At this point, the council has approved
acceptance of the grant contract from the State of Tennessee for
$500,000 in a 50/50 match and has approved contracts with the
engineering firm designing the project and the grant administrator in
previous actions.
Council discussion on Garrison budget amendment
Some council members then looked at the
details of the work and have appeared to want to slow the process
until some changes can be made or abandon it all together. The state
has told the city the grant agreement requires them do do certain
things in order to complete the grant including the removal of the
fence and grandstand. The state said that the fence could be put
back up completely or partially if the city wants to. According to
city manager Greg Wood, the current model for public parks is to have
open un-fenced access to the amenities.
The project also includes a splash pad,
a playground, new basketball court and restroom facilities at the
park.
Councilman J. H. Graham moved to
approve the budget amendment at the amount paid for the work and was
seconded by Mayor James Mayberry.
Councilman Danny Wyatt said he would
not support the matter “because we've learned a lot of things over
the last month or two.” Wyatt complained about having to tear down
the chain link fence adding, “The taxpayers paid for this fence and
it's in good shape.”
Mr. Graham commented that he only
intended for the bills already paid to be covered under the budget
and he was “not supporting any contracts or accepting the grant or
anything else.”
After some confusion expressed by
councilwoman Pamala Harris, city clerk Sally Oglesby explained to the
the council that the grant had been accepted and the contracts
approved months ago.
Prior to the vote being taken, Mayor
Mayberry clarified once more that the vote was strictly on the budget
amendment to cover expenses already paid for the previous fiscal
year. The motion passed with three aye votes from Graham, Mayberry
and councilman Scot Shanks. Council members Wyatt and Harris voted
no.
Crossville city council meets for their
regular July meeting on Tuesday July 11 and will discuss a budget
amendment for Garrison Park improvement work, downtown sidewalks and
a possible grant as well as potential industrial expansions.
Meetings start with the council's audit
committee meeting at 5:15, the Crossville beer board meeting at 5:45
and the regular agenda meeting starts at 6:00 PM.
L-R Crossville city manager Greg Wood and council members
J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry,
Pamala Harris and Scot Shanks.
After failing to approve the third and
final reading of a budget amendment to pay for work already preformed
during the 2016-17 fiscal year, council will address the topic again
during their regular meeting. The motion by councilman Danny Wyatt
approved at the called meeting late last month called for tabling the
matter “until someone can tell us why we have to take the fence
down.”
Garrison Park
At the called meeting several council
members expressed unhappiness with removing the fence and later
putting it back up. Mr. Wyatt estimated that cost at around
$100,000. The $500,000 state department of environment and
conservation grant that the city agreed to requires that the old
grandstand and the perimeter fence be removed. The redevelopment
plan includes a new water feature splash pad, a playground, replacing
the basketball court and constructing a restroom building in the
park. The grant requires a $500,000 match from the city.
The city council will look at possible
grant funding from the state for downtown sidewalks. The city has
talked about improving sidewalks downtown fro some 14 years now but
can't seem to get the project underway. The state TDOT grant now
called Transportation Alternatives Program. The program was
previously known as the Transportation Enhancement Program and was
part of the funding in place previously for part of the downtown
project. City manager Greg Wood and councilman J. H. Graham will
discussion on the grant that can be used for sidewalks and pedestrian
lighting.
Council is expected to act on the the
new solid waste collection contract. City manager Wood and street
superintendent Kevin Music both recommend the approval. The new 5
year contract reduces the annual cost by some $121,000 annually and
the city will take over the leaf and brush collection. The new
contract uses the property appraiser's classification for residential
and commercial and the question of mobile home parks is answered in
the city's ordinance originally passed on 1973 and updated in 1998
requiring that they provide refuse collection in their parks.
CoLinx is asking to lease property next
to it's expansion in the Interchange Business Park for parking for
additional employees as the parking is not adequate. In addition,
the city manager may have additional information on a potential
industrial prospect for the community.
Other agenda items include Friends of
the Airport memorial and the marketing report.
While the city's Garrison Park redevelopment
project has a signed grant contract with the state, engineers and a grant
consultant and work is progressing on design and engineering work,
council's action at last weeks called meeting put off passing the
third and final reading on a budget amendment funding work that has
taken place during the last part of the 2016-17 fiscal year.
So far the council has not canceled the
project, the work or the grant but only tabled the approval of a
budget amendment pending additional information.
City council called meeting-sitting at table L-R
Danny Wyatt, Pamala Harris, Mayor James Mayberry
and J. H. Graham
The discussion mainly concerned the
fence that is currently surrounding the park that the grant
application indicated would be removed. The LPRF (Local Parks and
Recreation Fund) has said the fence can be replaced but are holding a
position that the current must be removed as it was part of the grant
application they approved.
During discussion, councilman J. H.
Graham said that his phone calls over the previous two weeks
indicated that if the fence had to be removed and field A was lost
that his constituents were in favor of discontinuing the renovations
until coming up with a better solution. He added that finding a ball
park was difficult in the city of Crossville.
Concept for Garrison Park re-development plan
Garrison Park entrance and fence
City manager Greg Wood said that the
city would have the use of the ball fields that belong to the local school
system at the two high schools if they were needed. It was also
clarified that field A was not being removed and was not part of the
current grant or renovation plan.
The fence remains the main sticking
point as Graham said “I have a real problem with taking down a
perfectly good fence and building it back.”
Councilman Danny Wyatt said that there
was 4000 feet of chain link in the park that he said was “somewhere
in the neighborhood of $100,000. “I'd like for a good level headed
person to tell me why you would take a perfectly good fence down and
create a safety concern,” commented Wyatt.
Manager Wood explained that the current
trend in parks is to have open access and not have fences all the way
around them to encourage access to the park from all sides.
Wyatt said, “I'd like to make a
motion to table this until someone can tell us why we have to take
the fence down.
Questions arose on the fact that
the city has already signed contracts for work done by the
engineering firm Lose and Associates and Community Partners for grant
administration. City attorney Will Ridley said that the city would
have to pay for work that has already been done by the firms if the
city were to back out of those contracts.
Questions about whether backing out of
the grant would cause the city to be ineligible for additional such
recreation grants was also discussed but manager Woods planned to
meet with representatives of the city of Livingston for additional clarification
on some of the issues since they just completed a similar grant.
Councilwoman Pamala Harris indicated that the comments that they city could not get another grant didn't make sense to her since grants are usually awarded on a point system. Said Wood,
“If you don't close out one grant then it may be that you are not eligible to get
another one.”
Wyatt's motion was approved with 4
votes in favor.
A motion to approve the year end budget
amendments was approved by the council with little discussion and a
unanimous vote of the council members present. Councilman Scot
Shanks was out of town for the meeting.
Crossville city council agreed to move
forward with the planned redevelopment of Garrison Park while the
city plans to keep the perimeter fence around the park and the so
called Field “A” intact.
The city received a $500,000 grant
toward the project to remove the late 1940's grandstand, put in a
playground, a splash pad, a new basketball court and a rest room.
The city is to match the state funds for the total cost of $1 million
for phase one of the project. It is unclear if or when additional
work might be done on the park.
Initial design plan for Garrison Park improvements
The action on the June agenda was a
budget amendment for the current fiscal year to move forward with
contracts for design and grant administration. Council members Danny
Wyatt and Pamala Harris both expressed concern about the need to
retain the fence around the park and the larger ball field at the
park.
L-R: City manager Geg Wood, council members J.H. Graham
and Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry and council members
Pamala Harris and Scot Shanks.
The item was pulled out of the consent
agenda for separate action and discussion by councilman J. H. Graham
and councilman Danny Wyatt addressed his concerns saying, “I'm all
about building this park over there but I want it done correctly.”
Wyatt mentioned the fence around the park and said it would be very
expensive to replace.
Entrance to Garrison Park
The other item Wyatt sought
clarification on is the ability to leave Field A since it is part of
the second phase of the project that is not currently funded or under
consideration. Wyatt also questioned why if the grandstand was part
of Field A was it part of this project.
Mayor James Mayberry responded, “The
bleachers were one of the biggest health and safety issues with the
whole deal and why it was a priority.”
Councilwoman Pamala Harris said her
biggest concern was if there was a guarantee that the city could
conserve Field A and conserve the fence. “I'm just uncomfortable
unless I know these things can be saved,” added Harris.
Mayor Mayberry said that he had a
verbal assurance that the state would use common sense about the
safety provided by the perfectly good fence and there should be no
reason to remove it. Mayberry added that he had been to the
Tennessee Municipal League meeting and found out that park designers
like to have parks feel more open without fences but that safety is a
concern.
Mayberry said that with the removal of
the grandstand a backstop fence would be required as well.
Discussion of a possible big tournament
in the Fall came up and it was estimated that no work on the field
would start before the first of 2018 and the grant funds must be used
within 2 years.
Video of council discussion on Garrison Park
With one final reading still to go, the
city will request an answer in writing by a special called meeting on
June 29th when the final reading is expected to take place along with
the final reading of the 2017-18 budget.
With that, Mr. Wyatt made the motion to
approve contingent on getting an answer by the third reading and was
supported by Mr. Graham and the motion passed unanimously.
The longtime park has been the location
of a baseball field since the 1920's according to property records
and at one time was the location where the Cumberland County Fair was
held.
“I don't know why we wait til the
very end on projects and decide to not do them,” commented
Crossville Mayor James Mayberry during a discussion of the next steps
on the redevelopment of Garrison Park.
“We've already executed the
contract,” pointed out Mayberry after councilman Danny Wyatt sought
to delay the project with a motion for the city attorney to review
the contract and report back to the council at their next meeting.
Councilman J. H. Graham seconded Wyatt's motiuon for the purposes of
discussion.
Council discussing Garrison Park. L-R J.H. Graham,
Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry and Scot Shanks
City manager Greg Wood advised the
council that the things in the grant would have to be done but there
was some flexibility on matters of sidewalks and fencing.
Mayberry stated, “I've got it on
pretty good authority they will use common sense in our disucssion
request on the fence” and the city has sent a letter in reference
to that.
Wyatt said his questions came up
“because we wasn't told all this on the front end.” Mayberry
said that the city could keep Field A at Garrison Park because the
planned “multi-use field” is part of phase 2 of the plan and
currently the funding and plans were only for Phase 1.
The motion failed in a tie vote with
Wyatt and Graham voting in favor and Mayberry and councilman Scot
Shanks opposed.
Council discussion on Garrison Park and
Centennial splash pad.
Mayor Mayberry moved that the city
approve the contracts with Community Development Partners, the grant
administrator and Lose and Associates, the engineer firm to design
the work. Mayberry's motion also included first reading of a
necessary budget amendment. Mr. Shanks gave a second for the motion.
With no further discussion, the vote
included yes votes from Mayberry and Shanks. Wyatt voted no and
Graham abstained. With councilwoman Pamala Harris not yet at the
meeting and the abstention counted with the yes votes, the motion was
approved.
Council moved then moved to discussion
of the addition of a splash pad at Centennial Park to match the one
planned for Garrison. Mr. Wyatt moved that the city put out a
request for proposals for the design and construction of a splash
pad.
Discussion revealed that the council
had previously requested Hart Freeland Roberts to prepare a design
for such an installation but no contact was ever brought back to the
the city. Manager Wood has recommended that the previous action be
rescinded and a new request be circulated. Mr Wyatt amended his
motion to rescind the previous action.
Manager Wood suggested the city might
be able to have to the two splash pads done together and be able to
save some money on the work.
Wyatt's motion passed unanimously with
yes votes from all four council memebers present. Ms. Harris arrived
at the meeting following these actions.
Crossville city council meets in a
called meeting followed by a work session on Thursday starting at 5
PM in Crossville city hall.
The called meeting will include
discussions and possible action on at least two items deferred from
the regular council meeting last week. One topic is moving forward
with the plans to redevelop Garrison Park on Fourth Street and the
other is another round of discussion on downtown sidewalks, a topic
that has been around since plans were first put forth for downtown
improvements 14 years ago.
Garrison Park entrance
The council put off action to move
forward and approve contracts for grant administration and
engineering for the Garrison Park project until they got a response
from the Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) about keeping the
fence around the park and keeping the larger baseball filed known as
Field A. Plans remain to remove the old grandstand structure built
around 1949 as it is in poor condition and not ADA accessible.
The redevelopment plan for the park
includes a splash pad, playground, new restrooms, a walking trail,
and redoing the basketball court. The city was awarded a 50/50 match
grant of $500,000 for the project.
Example of Splash pad in Cookeville's Dogwood Park
A discussion is also planned on a
splash pad proposed for Centennial Park. The project was discussed
last year and a motion to have the then interim city manager
negotiate a contract with engineers on such a project. No contract
was ever brought back before council and current city manager Greg
Wood is recommending the council seek a design/build contract on such
a project.
Council will hear information about the
city manager and engineers recent meeting with TDOT officials on the
sidewalk and Main Street paving project. TDOT will correct some of
the downtown sidewalk corners to bring them up to ADA standards and
current plans are for the city to do the rest. At this point the
city hopes to know which corners TDOT will fix.
Deteriorated sidewalks in downtown Crossville
Councilman Scot Shanks has proposed the
sidewalks be repaired by bidding the project out, a scenario that is
estimated to be a 9 month process versus having city employees do the
work, a process that could take 3 years.
Additional items on Thursday's agenda
include approving the replacement of the traffic light signal at
Lantana Road and Main Street. The project will be paid for 100
percent by funds from Surface Transportation grant funds with no
local match required.
And one of the air conditioning units
at the Crossville airport has failed and the city is taking bids for
its replacement. That action will also come before the council and budgeted funds are available.
Crossville Memorial Airport Terminal Building
Following the called meeting, the
council will meet in work session to continue work on the 2017-18
budget.
The tug of war between the new and the
past continues to lead to discussion by the Crossville city council
and still no decision made yet on the redevelopment of Crossville's Garrison
Park on Fourth Street.
The council put off a decision on
approving contracts with the grant administrator and engineer until
they find out about the possibility of maintaining the current fence
around a portion of the park and the long time ball field known as
Field A. The grandstand structure is to be removed unless the city
refuses to accept the $500,000 grant from the Local Parks and
Recreation Fund and turning down the grant could negatively effect
the ability of the city to get any future money through that grant
program.
The plan to redevelop Garrison Park was
originally part of the city recreation master plan developed by Lose
and Associates during 2014 and the mater plan was required to be
eligible to apply for the grant funds. The grant to Crossville was
announced in August 2016 and and the grant requires a 50 percent
match. The grant included a splash pad, redoing the basketball
court, new restrooms, walking trails, a playground and removing the
old grandstand structure as phase 1 of the project.
Crossville resident Vancienetta Wisdom
has spoken against removing the grandstand several times and
addressed the council during public comment at the start of the May
council meeting. She said, “Garrison Park is as much a part of
Crossville's history as the Palace Theatre, the depot and the old
Cumberland County high school building.” Mrs. Wisdom asked the
council to consider keeping A field and using B field for the planned
improvements.
City Manager and council discuss Garrison Park improvements
Crossville mayor James Mayberry moved
to approve the contracts involved in the project and approve the
necessary funds for the current fiscal year, expected to be $25,000.
When asked by councilman J. H. Graham to be specific about the parts
of the project, Mayberry said that he did not find anything in the
documentation that said the fence had to be removed or that anything
had to be done to the “A” baseball field. The grant does
specifically address the grandstand and it is to be removed as part
of the first phase of the redevelopment.
Mayberry's motion was seconded by
councilwoman Pamala Harris.
Councilman Danny Wyatt said that an
email from city clerk Sally Oglesby indicated the fence and field A
had to be removed. City manager Greg Wood said that he would fight
to keep the fence based on the amount of traffic on Fourth Street and
that it was needed to protect the children. Wyatt said, “I want to
know this before I support this.”
Ms. Harris asked Mayor Mayberry if he
would accept an amendment that the action was contingent on the
keeping of the fence and field A and he agreed to the change in
language.
Ms. Harris said that she understood
that the topic was emotional to a lot of residents and it was tough
to cope with change. She continued that if the fence and field A
could be kept that the other improvements would be nice for the park
and the community.
Mr. Wyatt again asked about the
approving the contracts and a budget amendment before knowing the
specifics. City attorney Will Ridley told the council that with the
amendment the mayor would not be authorized to sign the agreement
without knowing about the two items. After additional brief
discussion the motion was deferred, or as Mayor Mayberry said “kicked
down the road” until a tentatively special called meeting in the
next two weeks.
Crossville city council holds their
regular May meeting Tuesday May 9 with a series of meetings starting
at 5 PM.
Crossville city hall
The council will meet as the audit
committee at 5 PM in the third floor conference room followed by a
public hearing on the city's capital improvement plan at 5:30.
Meetings starting with the public hearing will be held in the council
chambers on the second floor at city hall. The council will meet as
the Beer Board at 5:45 PM and a public hearing at 5:50 PM on the
annexation of 6.3 acres at the Gardens. The regular council meeting
starts at 6 PM.
Topics up for discussion on the council
agenda include another run at the downtown sidewalk project following
a lengthy discussion at their work session last week. (Link to story)
In addition, council will take up the improvements planned for
Garrison Park. The park redevelopment does include the removal of
the old grandstand at the park as it does not meet ADA requirements
and has other issues.
Vancienetta Wisdom discusses Garrison Park during
city council work session
The redevelopment decision has become a
bit controversial and there are some in the community that would like
to see the structure saved. Vancienetta Wisdom addressed the issue
at council work session last week and talked about the history of the
park seeking to convince the council to not tear down the grandstand.
Crossville has received a grant to pay for the first phase of the
redevelopment and the city has already signed the grant contract for
the LPRF (Local Parks and Recreation Fund) money and it could be a
problem for the city with future grants if they change their mind on
the deal at this late date.
Garrison Park and grandstand
Contracts for the grant administrator
and the engineering work must be approved for the grant to move
forward.
The city continues to pursue a fuel
truck for the Crossville Memorial Airport. The grant would cover
half the $35,000 cost with the remainder coming from funds budgeted
for the airport.
And council will discuss the request
from county mayor Kenny Carey on the new animal shelter building.
Carey is asking for the city to waive permit fees and to install
sewer line to the location of the new building as well as providing a
grinder pump to the project's contractor. The city has previously
committed $90,000 toward the project and the cost of the material
will come from that amount.
The Crossville city council meets for
their monthly work session Tuesday May 2 at Crossville city hall and
will discuss a number of items expected on the regular agenda coming
up on May 9. The meeting starts at 5 PM and will be held in the
third floor conference room at city hall.
Council plans to discuss downtown
sidewalks during the work session once again and will hear from
Crossville resident Ed Daszkiewicz who is blind and will discuss with
the council what it is like to walk around Crossville.
The City of Crossville gets so many
request for road closings for events and 5K races that they are
looking at setting a standard 5K route that will reduce the time by
city employees and cost to the city. If organizers use that rout
there would be no charge but if they choose a different route they
would need to reimburse the city for expenses. The council also
plans to discuss the possibility of moving the cruise ins and other
events to the block behind the courthouse and around the
amphitheater.
Council will also discuss action on
contracts for the Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant on the
redevelopment of Garrison Park. Environmental work has been
completed and certified by the state. The contracts under
consideration are with the grant administrator Community Development
Partners and Lose and Associates for final design and bidding
services. The agenda points out that a number of public meetings
were held on the project and public hearings on the adoption of the
recreation master plan.
Plan for Garrison Park redevelopment
Garrison Park
The lease on the Crossville depot is up
for renewal later this year and the city has been notified that the
C. A. T. S. group that has operated the depot for the past 3 years
will not be renewing or extending the lease. Council will discuss
what to do next. The lease expires August 31.
Council will discuss a request from
Cumberland Co. mayor Kenneth Carey on the work on the animal shelter.
Carey is requesting that the city waive permit fees and city crews
install sewer line from the tap to the location of the new building
along with providing a grinder pump to the contractor. All material
costs would be deducted from the city share of the cost of the
building.
Council will discuss the city's capital
improvement plan that is required by the charter to be approved by
council. A draft of the plan is available on thecity website here.
While there are some efforts to try and
save the old grandstand at Garrison park, the structure is not in
very good shape with leaks and mold problems, and the city says there
are plenty of baseball fields at Centennial Park that are in better
shape.
Crossville recreation director Tammie French said that the park would become a community park that would provide activities and play for children in the area and for adults, a walking trail. The second phase of the project will include a multi purpose field that would allow football and soccer games as well. French pointed out that the city currently has no football fields in its inventory.
In 1947, the start of the city of
Crossville’s recreation department included approval by the
Crossville city commission to approve the financing of the
construction of Garrison Park Grandstands. The dream of grandstands
had been in the works back into the 1920's when a fund raiser was
held at the Mecca. It is not know what happened to any funding
raised, but until almost 1950 there was just a baseball field at
Garrison Park.
The property at Garrison Park was most
likely acquired when the city got the land for the construction of
City School on Fourth Street. The city kept ownership of the park
when they gave the city school to the county to operate.
From it's construction until the time
the Crossville Blues semi-pro baseball team was disbanded in the
early 1950's it was their home field. It was a big part of the warm
weather entertainment of that time. After the semi-pro team
disbanded, the field and grandstands were used for a variety of local
teams to play baseball including the Cumberland Co. High School team and it was operated by the city recreation
department.
The field was named after Bill
Garrison, a local resident who went north to make his fortune in
Chicago. He was also known as “Dollar Bill” for the story that
he left Crossville with only a dollar in his pocket. When he
returned he built the Will-Nell building where Highland Federal is
today and the Palace Theatre. He also owned the house on 70-E that
was also known as the Oaklawn Country Club.
The story is that he donated money
towards the construction and that is the reason the park was named
after him. If the city's current plans goes through, the park would
remain known as Garrison Park.
Below are some photos of the current state of the grandstands. We were able to get access to the space under the grandstands and there are leaks and mold problems currently.
This photo shows an area under the grandstand that is leaking badly.
This is below both the roof and the concrete seats.
Ladies Restroom
Door frame rusting out
Under the grandstand
Bricks, rust and water under the grandstand
Water coming in causes the white scaling
Concrete damage and rust
The photos below are exterior damage. It appears that the brick exterior may be of a later date then the original construction.
