Clay Spending $50 K Grant To Improve Donaldson Park

Clay County will be investing $50,000 into Donaldson Park facilities thanks to a state grant.

Chamber of Commerce Director Doug Young said the need was identified through a community asset study with the state department of economic development.

“The court area, which consists of tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts and all of that,” Young said. “It’s in a state of bad repair, and we’re going to be able to renovate that court area.”

Young said about half of the money will be used for court repairs. Young said the remaining money will be used for playground equipment.

“With COVID being a big thing the past year, we want to be able to get kids outside again,” Young said. “It looks like COVID is returning on us, and with the court area and the playground, it will be an opportunity to still go outside and get some exercise.”

Young said the chamber plans to continue efforts of bringing more amenities to the park after this project. Young said the end goal is to find more grant funding to install a splash pad.

“If we can obtain even more grants, we might be able to do more for the area,” Young said. “The fence is in really bad shape. This year, we’ll finish our playground and possibly get a splash pad.”

The grant allowing the work to happen is the state’s ThreeStar grant. Young said the county qualified to become a ThreeStar community about 13 years ago and has earned a grant every year since the program started.