City of Center Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CITY TO RECEIVE $100K STATE PARK GRANT
Funds To Help Pay For Center Park Expansion Project

CENTER, Texas (January 15, 2013) – The City of Center is excited that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will make a recommendation that the City receive a $100,000 Outdoor Recreation Grant.

“The State of Texas had a special state-wide grant competition,” described Center City Manager, Chad Nehring.  “There were a very limited number of awards that were going to be made.  Our park planner was confident that this project would score competitively.”  In fact, the City scored 84 points to come in 4^th place in the statewide competition.  There were only 10 funded projects in this grant round.

Nehring continued, “This project was able to score 20 points because community support including a pledge from the Center Amateur Softball Association.  They pledged to raise $100,000 towards the project plus the installation of scoreboards and bleachers for each field.”  Other community organizations pledged support and Shelby County pledged in-kind road access.  “This really was a community-wide effort to obtain this additional funding,” Nehring concluded.

“We are going to use this money to help pay for the playground, connecting trails, and pavilion facilities at the planned softball complex,” explained Center Mayor David Chadwick.  “This was a project that was identified as a priority in our Parks Master Plan and was funded as part of our Capital Improvements Program”

The Center Park expansion includes building additional ball fields designed for softball use.  The Parks Master Plan and Capital Improvements Program also call for Community Park to be repurposed for multi-purpose fields for football and soccer play.  In 2012, the City completed the purchase of 19 acres for the Center Park expansion.  The project is currently in the design phase with construction possibly beginning before Spring 2013.

To download a copy of the Center Parks Master Plan, please visit www.centertexas.org/parks

City of Center
617 Tenaha Street
Center, Texas  75935
Jim Gibson
936/598-2941