Committee looks to refurbish Rogersville’s Swift Park

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

By JEFF BOBO   jbobo@timesnews.net  

   ROGERSVILLE — A new committee is working to give Rogersville’s aging Swift Park a complete overhaul with new shelters, playground equipment, walking trail security fencing, and other attractions that would be unique to the area.

It’s going to be a monumental task, however, that will literally have to begin from the ground up.

   The committee met this past Wednesday to talk about what the refurbished park should look like and where they will begin looking for funding.

   Rogersville Chamber of Commerce Director Nancy Barker, who serves on the committee, said that based on the preliminary wish list, she’s anticipating a price tag in the neighborhood of $250,000 to $500,000.

   Swift Park is located a couple of blocks north of downtown on Hasson Street beside the Chip Hale Center.

   The park is on a slight hill, but there’s a steep drop-off running east to west through the middle of the property.

   It creates an elevation difference from north to south of about 15 feet, which the committee wants to level out.

   That means substantial excavation will likely take place before any new features are added — not only to increase the amount of usable property, but also to meet the requirements of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).

   The project will have to be completed in several separate phases including site preparation — followed by, in no set order, installing shelters, a walking trail, playground equipment, benches and horseshoe pits, security fencing and lights, and a new restroom building.

   Committee member Jackie Charles, who is also a member of the local Rotary Club chapter, said the organization is offering a grant for this type of project, but the application is due by the end of the month.

   Committee members agreed that the first priority would be obtaining materials needed to complete that grant application including a land survey, a detailed project description, a proposed timeline for each phase, and an estimate on how much each phase will cost.

   Local Kiwanis chapter president Russ Williamson said the club also offers grant funding for parks, but the application deadline isn’t until later in the spring.

   In discussing the new look of the park, committee members agreed that they want all new playground equipment, shelters and the restroom building designed to be cohesive with the look of historic downtown Rogersville.

   Williamson said he would also like to include educational features in the park’s new look.

   “Looking at it as a clean canvas, let’s come up with a concept of what we really want to put in there and who do we want to (serve),” Williamson said. “Instead of just replacing what we’ve got here, make it more unique. Something that Rogersville can say, ‘We’ve got a park we’re proud of.’ Handicapped accessible. Educational. And secured because we’re going to have a fence, we’re going to have lights, we’re going to have cameras.”

   Williamson added, “We can’t limit ourselves to what we’ve got there because then we’ll just be replacing what’s there, and I’d rather see something that’s more of a showcase.”