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July 27, 2010

Interns present detailed park plans at meeting

Jamie Jones Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Sports played with a ball — primarily baseball, football, softball and soccer — rule the local recreational scene.

But there are other sports and outdoor diversions that are popular with Whitfield County residents. That was one of the themes two interns from the University of Georgia’s Archway Partnership used in designing the county’s Westside Park. The Archway Partnership uses the college’s resources to improve communities throughout the state. The interns came to Dalton in late May and finished their work last week. Kent Mallett and Ross Tew, landscape architecture students at UGA, spent much of their time in Dalton laying out the park.

“We put a lot of thought into it,” Mallett said.

Mallett presented the plan to the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners during its work session on Monday night. Earlier this year, commissioners voted 4-0 to buy a total of 98 acres between Highway 201 and Mount Vernon Road from Spring Creek Properties and the Thomas R. Durkan III Family Partnership for $1.15 million. The park is expected to open next year.

The entrance to the park leads to a large field that borders a pond. The field provides an area for lawn games or Frisbee, Mallett said, while a half-mile walking path around the pond provides another opportunity for passive recreation. A large pier allows residents to enjoy the view and there are fishing cutouts along the pond. Three pavilions near the pond allow for family reunions or birthday parties.

The park has four baseball/softball fields, a multi-purpose field for football or soccer and eight tennis courts. A proposed Miracle Field allows children and adults with special needs to play sports. There is also a 2.2-mile running/walking trail.

Commissioners were receptive to the drawings, but they did offer some suggestions. For example, the drawings include eight tennis courts and lacked basketball courts. Commissioner Harold Brooker, who thought the design work was “excellent,” asked to reduce the number of tennis courts and make room for a basketball area.

“They’ve done a fine job on this and we appreciate the work they’ve done,” said Mike Babb, chairman of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners.

• In other business, commissioners voted 4-0 to buy two servers from Computech International for $11,813. The servers will be used for the county’s disaster recovery project and will be installed at the jail.

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