By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.—At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Historic Atkins-Porter Neighborhood Association, Paris Parks and Recreation Director Tony Lawrence spoke about improvements being made around Paris, especially those in the A-P neighborhood.
Upgrades to the Atkins-Porter Dog Park and replacement of the sidewalk at the entrance to the neighborhood Community Park on Jackson Street are key areas that city workers are working on now.
Speaking to a dozen members of the Association, Lawrence outlined the improvements being made to the dog park, thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Randy Boyd Foundation. The grant “gave us a great opportunity” for upgrades that had already been discussed.
Parks Employees Peanut Paschall and Joel Crosno have already started work on the upgrades and Lawrence called them “my right hand men. They’re the key men for this project”. Upgrades will include a shaded area with canvas cover, a three-tiered water fountain for canines and humans (one of the tiers would be for persons in wheelchairs), a dog-washing section, and water mister. New and more benches will be placed at the park and workers will begin pouring concrete slabs which will replace the mulch that presently can get muddy and water-logged.
Paschall and Crosno have installed the poles for the shade areas already and are now installing water lines for the park’s water features.
“The grant from Randy Boyd just gave us a perfect opportunity to get things done we’ve wanted to do there for some time,” Lawrence said. The park is still open while the work is ongoing.
Lawrence also discussed the upgrades underway to the Eiffel Tower and the future splash pad that parks employees will begin working on soon.
The Eiffel Tower upgrades are almost complete and include a mini-stage, sidewalks to the Eiffel Tower from the parking areas, a circular sidewalk around the Eiffel Tower which is ADA accessible and landscaping. Lawrence said Mayor Carlton Gerrell “wanted to jump start the upgrades. You can’t imagine how many people from out of town and out of state come to see the Eiffel Tower every day. There are at least 10-15 people coming there every day and they all pose in front of the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to make the Eiffel Tower as accessible as we could and look as good, too.”
Installation of the Splash Pad at the park is a dream come true for Lawrence and other city officials, who believe it (along with the upgrades to the Eiffel Tower) will further transform Paris into a tourist destination.
The city also is applying for a Blue Cross/Blue Shield Healthy Community grant which would finance more upgrades to the Eiffel Tower Park that would involve installation of LED lights throughout the park and installation of an “all-access playground” that is ADA compliant.
In other business:
Drew Wheatley reported on improvements to the Atkins-Porter website, which is at https://www.hapna.org/ . The website includes a calendar of events, photo gallery and neighborhood information.
Photo: Atkins-Porter members listen to Parks Director Tony Lawrence (in yellow shirt). Shannon McFarlin photo.
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