Matthew HodgesSCOTTSBORO, Ala. — The publicly owned Jackson County Park on Guntersville Lake near Scottsboro is targeted for updates and expanded facilities and accommodations.
“We just hired an architect on Monday and we have a general plan of what we want to do,” Jackson County Commission Chairman Matthew Hodges said Friday.
The architect, Huntsville, Ala.-based KPS Group, will take those ideas and put them to paper, Hodges said.
He said officials hope to put the improvement project out for bids by May and get work started by earlysummer.
At present, plans include a rearrangement of campsites and some possible additions, a redesigned entrance, a new playground and walking trail, a bike trail, a new boat ramp, boat slips for larger vessels and rental cabins. Plans also include work to make the shoreline more of a green space and to provide new parking areas to get cars away from areas near the water, he said. Other plans include an outdoor amphitheater and picnic pavilions.
The architect’s designs could change some of these plans, Hodges noted.
“The children’s playground really needs updating,” said Rebecca Wright, a local resident who was enjoying the fishing pier on Wednesday with her grandchildren, Landon and Elijah King, who ran back and forth between her and their mother, Felicia King, who was relaxing on a shoreline swing.
“It’s frequented by a lot of families,” said Wright, who comes to the park at least once a week.
Angler Claude Frye, a longtime Scottsboro resident, said he’d like to see a new boat ramp and a new floating dock. Frye was readying his bass boat for a little fishing on Wednesday.
“But I hope they don’t change the campground too much,” said Frye, 69.
Hodges said the project could cost as much as $1 million, depending on the scope of work, but he hedged firm figures against the architect’s formal plans and estimates.
“We would like to see it complete this year, but we want to get it done at least by next spring,” he said of expectations if work doesn’t start this summer.
“I was out there today and I’m just excited about what we’re going to be doing,” Hodges said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.