Governor Phil Bredesen and Environment and Conservation
Commissioner Jim Fyke announced Monday, August 7, that more than $11.3 million
in parks and recreation grants will be awarded to recipients across Tennessee. Brownsville
and Haywood County is among them.
A Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) grant, in the
amount of $86,125, will be used to install an elevator at the College Hill
Museum to make the project ADA compliant. The grant requires a 50 percent match
by the city and county.
An effort has been underway for some time to get the
elevator installed at the museum. The stairway leading to the second floor of
the museum is difficult and sometimes impossible for the elderly or physically
challenged to maneuver. This project will allow more people to view and enjoy
the artifacts and history of Haywood County. The College Hill Center includes
the Haywood County Historical Museum, the Haywood County Sports Museum and the
Morton Felsenthal Lincoln Collection.
“These grants
will enhance and expand special places like parks, greenways and recreational
facilities that are set aside for the enjoyment of our state’s citizens and
visitors alike,” said Bredesen. “I’m extremely pleased that this year’s grant
awards will allow us to help make 87 important projects a reality across the
State of Tennessee.”
The Local Parks and Recreation Fund Grant Program was
established in 1991 to provide local governments with funds to purchase land
for parks, natural areas, greenways and recreational facilities. The funds may
also be used for development of trails and projects in parks, natural areas and
greenways.
“These awards will help fund some very exciting projects,”
said Fyke. “From the acquisition of property for the development of new
municipal parks to the renovation of recreational facilities to make them ADA
compliant to the construction of new athletic fields and walking trails, these
projects run the gamut of recreational opportunities for Tennesseans and will
be great assets to their communities.”
Grant recipients were selected through a scoring process
with careful consideration given to the projects that met the selection
criteria and expressed the greatest local recreation need. Mandatory regional
workshops will be held for grant recipients in September 2006.
The announcement includes approximately $8.7 million in
Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) grants, more than $2 million in
Recreation Trails Program (RTP) grants, and $480,000 in Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF) grants.