Improvement plans for Pentecost Park

A land swap will give Pentecost Park a little room for parking, and several improvements are planned for that park and another.

B.J. Owen, director of special services, said the city owned two lots beside Pentecost Park but they were divided because the center lot was owned by another party.

The property owner, Jimmie Ruth Mauldin Sheppard, agreed to trade her lot to allow the city to have two contiguous lots adjacent to Pentecost and the city council approved the exchange.

Owen said in addition to a new parking area, the city plans to add drinking fountains and a pavilion with electricity and water.

At Martin Luther King Jr. Park, formerly known as South Street Park, several improvements have already been completed, including new restrooms and new paint for the existing pavilion.

Drainage and dirt work to fill in ditches and the old swimming pool are done, which Owen said has eliminated standing-water problems in the area. City workers also took out fencing between the old basketball court and the rest of the park.

The city has already purchased new playground equipment and is looking now for "fall protection" material to place underneath, and then all will be put together by city workers.

Owen said future plans include adding water and electricity to the existing pavilion and more lighting around the park.

Gregg County donated the South Street Community Center to the city about six months ago and it, too, is getting a makeover. Owen said workers have been painting and giving the building an overall clean-up. In addition, about half of the chairs inside the meeting room have been replaced.

The central air conditioning unit has seen better days and will be replaced before long, Owen said.

In addition to MLK Jr. and Pentecost, the city's other parks are Wood Park, Lantrip Street Walking Park, City Park, Meadowbrook Park, Shakespeare Park and Walk- Around Park, World Richest Acre Park, Harris Street Park, Reinart Circle (aka Bird Sanctuary Park), Turkey Creek Park and the Kilgore Bush Park (at Hwy. 259 at 42).