Williams & Montgomery Street Park receives state grant

Jan. 31—HENDERSON — The Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Department has a major victory to celebrate. In turn, that means the citizens of Henderson and Vance County do, too.

For the first time since Aycock Recreation Center received partial state funding in 1997 and 2000, Henderson was awarded a Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant through the state that will go toward the planned Williams and Montgomery Street Park.

This grant, awarded in January, is worth $357,497, and must be matched by Henderson.

"Our staff put a lot of great time and effort into researching what other [areas] have to try to enhance and make our parks and recreation system better," said Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Department Director Kendrick Vann. "You're not going to have a multi-use park at the quality we have right now in a three- to four-county area."

The Williams and Montgomery Street Park has been a long time coming, with the groundwork laid in the city of Henderson's 2010 comprehensive plan before Vann carried the torch forward when he was hired two years ago.

City Manager Terrell Blackmon said Henderson did not receive a PARTF grant during the initial funding cycle of 2021, but got the nod when the state's Parks and Recreation Authority announced a second round of funding in their recent Jan. 6 meeting.

State Rep. Terry Garrison, D-32, hailed the grant allocation in a news release on Thursday.

"The Parks and Recreation Authority has consistently awarded grants to the best local park projects," according to the Parks and Recreation Authority website, "while distributing them to more than 350 local governments, small and large, in all of North Carolina's 100 counties."

Henderson's City Council had still gone forward with the plan for the park, even after missing out on PARTF funding for several years, by implementing the plan in multiple phases. A National Fitness Campaign grant made the first phase possible, emphasizing outdoor fitness facilities that are free to the public to go along with picnic shelters.

The next phases will bring a skatepark, splash pad (spray pool), restrooms, open-air market, walking trail, and more.

"We have a rough design already that we submitted to the state, but once we start getting into the nuts and bolts of things, we have an engineer that will come in and tell us how it will flow with the water system and all of that," Vann said.

Construction bidding hasn't started, but Vann is hopeful the park will be open by this summer.

Vann credited Blackmon and the City Council as well as his own staff, which includes Facilities Supervisor Toshia Somerville, Assistant Recreation and Parks Director Tara Goolsby, Parks Maintenance Supervisor Michael Crocker, and Aquatic Program Supervisor Lauren Newlin.

Goolsby said collecting community input, which included in-person and virtual meetings last summer, on the park was a necessity in the PARTF grant application process.

"If you notice anything about economic development, you're as strong as your schools system and your parks system and your quality of life," Vann said. "That's what people look for. So having all these elements with the walking track and these other things is very important because now you're making it accessible to people."

Blackmon said the construction or enhancement of park spaces is part of the city's larger redevelopment plan to improve quality of life in Henderson, and noted the city's pavilion that's in the works near McGregor Hall.

As for the Williams and Montgomery Street Park, it's located one street over from South Garnett, with the clocktower and front side of the old Henderson High School serving as distant backdrops.

"This will be a multi-generational park, which I think is very important," Blackmon said. "So you've got something for the youth. You've got something for the parents and you've even got something for the seniors when you're talking about a skate park, splash pad, fitness, walking — you kind of combine all those things and you create what I think is a great gathering place for families and for people to continue a healthy lifestyle."