By Chris Yow
Editor
CLAY — Some city parks in Clay have seen better days. The city council talked at their meeting Monday night on how to find a way to get the parks back to those days.
Chalkville Bryant Park
File photo
Bryant Park’s walking trail is still used by many citizens, but the ball field is in dire need of help. The city talked at their meeting of possibly building new restrooms, a concession stand, constructing a fence and upgrading the lights at the park. The upgrades would then allow for adult league softball and youth sports to conduct games at the field. A 295-foot fence could be constructed for the ball field without disturbing the walking trails.
Bryant Park is touted by the city as one of the nation’s oldest baseball parks, and it was donated to the city by the Civitan Club in 2007.
In addition, the city is looking into the possibility of creating a dog park and building tennis courts in the city.
A location for both have not been solidified, but the city is interested in expediting both projects.
Councilor Kevin Small questioned whether citizens would be interested in a dog park, and Councilor Ben Thackerson said he thought it would be a good addition to the city, but would like to have more public input as well.
Additionally, the council talked about building tennis courts, but, again, a suitable location was the issue. Currently, there are no viable tennis courts in the city. It was mentioned the Clay-Chalkville High School tennis team was forced to travel long distances to simply practice.
The council debated several locations, mainly near Clay Elementary School and Clay-Chalkville Middle School. There has been some discussion with the Jefferson County Board of Education to create a Master Plan for that area, and the city would build four tennis courts, complete with fencing and lighting for the use of the public, as well as the schools.
Currently, there is no solid plan in place for the construction, but Small said he would like to see it done quickly.
