Updates given on Moulton City Park improvement project

More updates have been given to the Moulton City Council’s continuing efforts at improving the Moulton City Park.

“We have a nice park in Moulton, but we are focusing more of our financial situation on improving infrastructure like the sewer plant and wastewater plant,” Council member Adam Nieto said. “So, we don’t have a lot of money to spend on the park. However, we have a nice park and I’m proud of our park, so I wanted to try to give an effort to make improvements. We want to team up with other organizations and individuals that we do business with and see if they would be willing to help out with this project. An update is that we did get some donations sent in from some companies.”

“The Moulton Chamber of Commerce has also agreed to take on one improvement project at the baseball field. They’re going to tear down the old dugouts and put up new modern dugouts that are more functional. That will improve the overall look of the park. They are also going to do improvements to the fencing around the baseball field. They aim to possibly cover a roof over the existing stands.”

The council is also aiming to upgrade the lighting around the baseball field as well.

“We’re still trying to figure out how to come up with the finances for that because that will be a rather expensive undertaking there,” Nieto said.

The Council recently received a $20,000 grant from the Dickson-Allen Foundation.

“Because the pavilion area in the park is a main focal point and is used quite a bit, we are going to focus on spending the $20,000 in that pavilion area,” Nieto said. “We purchased two new ceiling fans under the pavilion. That will greatly improve the circulation in the pavilion and will make it more comfortable for those utilizing the pavilion. We also are going to re-do the handicapped parking around the pavilion. That will make it more accessible to the pavilion from the parking lot area for the handicapped people. We also want to try and improve the electrical stuff in that area. In addition, we’re also talking about re-doing the basketball courts next to the pavilion.”

Recently, the Moulton Independent School District re-did the tennis court. The council aims to make the basketball court look similar to that.

The walking trails at the park also is something the council aims to improve.

“We had talked about putting a different kind of substance on the trail like limestone,” Nieto said. “A lot of times, when it rains, portions of the walking trail get washed out. We want to try and figure out a way to improve that to keep that from happening.”

Council also aims to trim some of the trees around the park on a regular basis.

"We have some really nice trees down there so we want to manage those,” Nieto said. “We also would like to make some improvements to the lake area. That includes regular maintenance.”

These things are the main objectives the council aims to look at for the park.

Nieto said finding funding has been a bit of a challenge; however, he is speaking with other individuals who have shown interest in donating.

“I would like people to know that if any organizations or individuals would like to donate for a specific project at the park, they are more than welcome to contact me at 361-772- 0160,” Nieto said. “We plan on recognizing the donors at the park.”

Nieto said a lot of people in the community have been supportive of the council’s efforts.

“I sometimes ask people at the park if there’s any improvements they’d like to see to the park, they always have suggestions,” Nieto said. “I hope these improvements will have a long-term impact in the community.”