By Maggie Behringer
Correspondent
DALTON, Ga. – Twelve years after Whitfield County residents asked the Board of Commissioners for more athletic facilities in the Westside area, the University of Georgia’s Archway Partnership is providing a solution.
Archway interns Kent Mallett and Ross Tew, rising seniors in the University of Georgia’s Landscape Architecture program, recently presented their designs for the Westside Park to local officials.
“We tried to keep it in line with what else is in the county, kind of a rustic feel,” said Mallett about the Westside Park designs.
As part of Whitfield’s 2008 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which laid out a regional park system with four major parks in strategic locations throughout the county, commissioners purchased a 98-acre parcel off Mount Vernon Road and state Highway 201 this year.
The plans call for eight tennis courts to the right of the park’s two-way main entrance road off Mount Vernon Road. To the left an existing pond, with a pier and a half-mile walking trail around the edge, anchors a picnic and grill area with pavilions, a playground, restrooms and parking.
Farther into the park, the road dead-ends at four baseball fields forming a clover design around a concessions area. The fields are various sizes, and one is a miracle field, specifically designed for wheelchairs and walkers. The surface is rubberized and the bases are painted on.
“One of the major themes to the park is being handicap accessible,” Tew said. “(The miracle field) provides a setting for them to be able to participate in the normal sports they might not be able to participate in otherwise.”
To the north of the baseball area, three fields serve as multipurpose soccer or football fields, and to the east a 2.2-mile hiking trail leads out to a secondary park entrance off Highway 201 with parking, restrooms and a playground at the trailhead.
County Commission Chairman Mike Babb estimated a minimum of $350,000 would have the four fields, including the Miracle Field, up and running. To completely outfit the area with concessions and handicap-accessible facilities, would cost about $500,000, he said.
The entire park project is estimated at $3 million. Due to budgetary concerns, Mr. Babb indicated the park likely will be built piece by piece.
“Unless we came up with a funding mechanism, we’d have to do it in phases,” he said. “We would like to at least have some ballfields up by next year.”
Though it would increase costs, the Miracle Field is a priority, officials said.
The county’s funds for the park already include a $50,000 donation from the parcel’s previous owners and a $100,000 Department of Natural Resources grant.
According to City/County Planner Kevin Herrit, the county currently works with the school system to provide park facilities, but the drawback is that access is limited by school hours.
The timeline and manner of implementing the Archway interns’ design are at the Board of Commissioners’ discretion.
Archway aims to establish a long-term partnership between the state’s university system and local communities, identify goals for future growth and improvement.
Contact Maggie Behringer at maggie.behringer@gmail.com.