County Wants To Improve Jere Whitson Park Through Grant

Putnam County seeking grant funding to renovate Jere Whitson Park.

Mayor Randy Porter said the $750,000 grant would be used to install new playground equipment.

“We put new playground equipment out there back four or five years ago, but anytime the equipment is outside it can go down,” Porter said. “We’ve had some vandalism out in that area as well.”

Porter said Jere Whiston has been a growing community, so the county applied for the grant to get something for the children. The grant is the same one Baxter received to build the Seminary Park playground.

“Hopefully, we will be able to make a very nice playground area there in Jere Whiston,” Porter said. “A lot of people live in that area. It’s a highly populated area, so we are trying to get something for the children of the area.”

$750,000 seems like a lot for a playground, but Porter said equipment can be very expensive. For example, Porter said Hope Park and Cookeville’s Heart of the City Playground costed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If awarded, the grant would not require a local match.