Community that built playground two decades ago will reunite to revamp it
ELBA, Ala. — Tiger Town Park in Elba is the community's beating heart. Two decades ago, the community witnessed the transformative and uniting power of self-investment.
Now, Elba stands on the horizon of a new chapter of community engagement. Steve Reneau, president of the Elba Rotary Club, explained, “We saw 20 years ago, Elba invest in itself and its future. I think this is an opportunity for Elba to do that again.”
For the 20th anniversary of Tiger Town playground in 2026, the civic club wants to revamp the space. “The playground is something that Rotary keeps on its mind every year. It's an ongoing project for our club,” Reneau stated.
Tiger Town Playground provides “common areas for people of diverse backgrounds in Elba to come together. The children are granted the opportunity to come together and play, which they may not have had before,” Reneau explained.
“For a lot of people in Elba, it doesn’t just represent a good playground. It symbolizes the impact of the community coming together to pull it off,” he added.
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One of those symbols of community unity is the front entrance. Although a flood destroyed most of the school in a Pea River flood, the white and cream front of the old Elba High School still stands tall and proud at Tiger Town Park. The front of the building and the front steps, which the school’s alumni still visit during reunions, were saved to symbolize hope in the face of tragedy created by floods.
Looking to the future, the Rotary Club plans to leverage help from commercial organizations, personal contributions, and grants. Personal contributions will generate excitement and investment into the effort. Fundraising with handprints, fence posts, and tiger paws allows the community to be directly involved in creating the space.
Funds for the project will secure resources to extend the playground’s accessibility and ensure its sustainability. While the immediate focus is refurbishing and enhancing the existing playground, the club understands the importance of continuous development, Reneau said.
“The major goal is to do the 20th anniversary well so the 25th and 30th anniversaries can happen. We can refurbish a little more or add another component to keep the playground as a living, public space,” Reneau added.
Courtney Pelham, the president-elect, explained, “We want it to sustain. It’s as much about growing Elba as it is preserving what we already have for years to come.”
Reneau said plans include “refurbishing what we’ve had, adding an accessibility component, and adding a multigenerational family component as well.”
He added, “The idea is to take something only geared toward children and upgrade it to a multigenerational area that everyone can use. We know that we can’t do everything so we’re prioritizing bit by bit what will make the most sense in terms of dollars and effectiveness.”
Pelham stated, “It’s an exciting opportunity, too, for people who helped participate as a child who now have their own children.” The echoes of past success linger in the air, reminding residents of their potential to create a thriving community space.
Reneau added, “People whose handprints are up there want the opportunity to put their children's handprints up as well.”
Mikailie Caulder, a Living Democracy student at Auburn University, is living and learning this summer in Elba, Alabama, as a Jean O'Connor Snyder Intern with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. The nonprofit program, coordinated by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, prepares undergraduate college students for civic life through living-learning experiences in the summer.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Residents that built playground 20 years ago will reunite to revamp it
