Bloomfield-Gilead Recreation Center gym dedicated to longtime Macon resident
The center's gymnasium was dedicated to Grady E. Gillis for his decades of work in the community.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Residents, county leaders and family members gathered at the Bloomfield-Gilead Recreation Center on Friday to celebrate longtime Macon resident Grady E. Gillis. The center’s gymnasium was dedicated to Grady E. Gillis for his decades of work in the community.
“Today, we’re gonna give you your flowers,” Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller said. The recreation center the gym is housed in what was once the Gilead Christian Academy, which was overseen by Gilead Baptist Church. Gillis has been a member of the church for 60 years and founded the education committee that served as support for the academy.
“One of the greatest privileges that I’ve ever had was to be a part of this school,” Gillis said.
The former school was purchased by the county in 2012. The county then used upwards of $2.8 million of SPLOST funds to transform the space into a recreation center that now houses a new fitness center, library and the gym with a new sign that now bears Gillis’ name.
Gillis was born in 1929 in Middle Georgia. He and his wife moved to Macon in 1951, and then again in 1963, after moving away for a short period of time.
