MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Milledgeville has plans to make one of their parks a little more beautiful. City council wants to apply for a grant to improve Central City Park. On Tuesday, Milledgeville City Council agreed to apply for the grant.
Many visitors of the park, and their kids are excited about that, like Coy Hollinshead, an assistant pastor in Milledgeville. He has a lot of history with Central City Park.
"We've come to this park for a longtime. We play baseball behind us for GMC, and this is where my kids love to come and play,” he says.
Flint, Coy's son, is 5 years old and he agrees.
"People come here a lot and I like seeing them,” says Flint.
Coy says that this park is a great, safe place for kids like his son to spend time at, but he thinks it's time for an update.
"I know we've got a lot of big things to put our money towards, but you want the kids who are gonna be the heartbeat of your community, and the heartbeat of your families-- you want them to have a safe place for them to come play and you want it be nice,” Hollinshead says.
"I know that equipment has been there since I was in middle school, and it has definitely served its lifespan,” says Walter Reynolds.
District Four, Councilman Reynolds has lived in Milledgeville his whole life. He says the mayor and council are excited to apply for the grant, replace playground equipment, and make other upgrades.
"The replacement of park equipment is something that we've been discussing as part of our budget for our upcoming fiscal year,” he explains. “This grant application would really be able to put us over the mark and make a very nice facility out of those parks again.”
Reynolds says council had plans for a huge park renovation, but weren't able to get SPLOST funding for it. However, they're still hopeful.
"It's important to our citizens, it's important to attracting families here, it's important to retaining families here. These are the types of improvements we need to be focused on,” he says.
Reynolds says the mayor and council think this renovation is important.
Hank Griffeth, City Manager, says that the grant will be for $4.5 million. He says they may know in June if they're getting the money.
Griffeth explains all work to the park must be completed by June 2024, according to the grant application. He says some parts of the park would be closed while work is taking place in that area.