Ground breaks for the start of Phase 3 of improvements at Filmore Thomas Park

“We look forward to the opportunity to have more parties, to have more gatherings, to have plays and to give our businesses also an opportunity to use this park for their entertainment as well,” said Brendalyn Bailey, District 9 Commissioner for Macon-Bibb County.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – After 5 years, ground was broken on Thursday to start Phase 3 of improvements at Filmore Thomas Park.

Pro Construction of Georgia is in charge of the new improvements and according to a press release, Phase 3, funded with $506,000 from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), which was recently approved again by voters last week, will include a new pavilion, new and renovated restrooms, resurfaced basketball courts, and repaved sidewalks.

“First of all, we’ve got a new pump house being constructed for the existing splash pad equipment. Keep everything out of the weather and secure,” said Josh Bates, Project Manager for Pro Construction of Georgia. “They’ll have a dedicated electrical room storage and also a new men’s and women’s restroom facility. We’ve got an existing restroom facility that we’re going to just freshen up, get all new fixtures on the inside, a new paint, replacing and some rotten wood, some damaged wood. We’ve got a brand new wood frame pavilion back here. It’s going to kind of resemble the existing pavilion and also some drainage improvements and new surfacing at the basketball courts.”

“We look forward to the opportunity to have more parties, to have more gatherings, to have plays and to give our businesses also an opportunity to use this park for their entertainment as well,” said Brendalyn Bailey, District 9 Commissioner for Macon-Bibb County. “It has been a long time waiting. It is beautiful to see the terracotta earth finally coming from the ground and we’ve got a lot of work that’s going on here in all different areas here at this park.”

“In past administrations it went one, two, three, four, five and by the time it got to nine, they were fresh out. So this time, I think we’re doing it in a different order, it’s nine, eight, seven, six, five, nine is important here,” said Commissioner Bailey.

“Over the few years we’ve had the SPLOST, we’ve been able to upgrade a lot of our park facilities and we’ve seen 12 to 15,000 people monthly come through our park system and that’s saying what our parks system is doing for the community here,” said Robert Walker, Recreation Director for Macon-Bibb County.

“70% were funded by people who come to our community to spend money, tourism, traveling through, and we appreciate their contributions,” said Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller.

“I think the people in this neighborhood, the people in this area that come to this park are going to be very, very excited about all the new things,” said Mayor Miller.

Construction is expected to be finished by the end of May so families can enjoy the park during the summer.

Filmore Thomas Park is located at 3793 Log Cabin Drive.

Check out our past coverage on Phase 1 and Phase 2 of improvements.