Town awarded $1.365 million parks state grant
The Town of Farragut received a Christmas present early with the announcement made during Farragut Board of Mayor and Alderman’s meeting Thursday, Dec. 14, of a state grant it received for Town parks.
Friday, Dec. 8, Parks and Recreation director Ron Oestreich and a member of his staff attended a ceremony at Henry Horton State Park near Chapel Hill that was hosted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
“Our award is for $1,365,000, which is 50 percent of the upcoming $2,730,000 park projects that are coming up,” Oestreich said about the Town’s share as presented during a formal presentation of the 2023-2024 Local Park & Recreation Fund Grant awards to 33 communities statewide for various projects.
“Specifically, these are (for) replacements of the synthetic turf on Fields 1 and 2 in Mayor Bob Leonard Park, replacement of the (Americans with Disabilities) paths at Mayor Bob Leonard Park, renovation of the sand volleyball courts at Mayor Bob Leonard Park and finally the installation of a dog park and restroom facility at McFee Park,” he added.
“As you all know … the Town of Farragut is a separate unit of local government from Knox County, as well as the City of Knoxville. Our founding leaders’ vision was to secure park properties with the intent to have a park in each quadrant of Farragut.”
This grant award “is the largest Local Park & Rec grant the Town has ever received, and we’re looking forward to seeing these projects through to completion,” Oestreich said. “The official TDEC contract will come before the Board for approval in February.”
He presented the $1,365,000 symbolic check to the Board.
