News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
McMinnville is looking for community input in preparation for a grant application to upgrade Rocket Park.
Facilities Manager Michael Benusches said several of the park’s features need major renovations. He said he hopes to pave the gravel parking lot, renovate the sport court, and upgrade the park’s boat ramp. He said before finalizing plans, he wants to hear the opinions of the people who frequently visit the park.
“Right now, there’s an asphalt court that we’ve got two basketball courts on, but the court condition is just in rough shape,” Benusches said. “And so, we’re wanting to renovate that court and make it a multi-sport court so we can play pickleball and basketball as well.”
Benusches said small pavilions are scattered throughout the park, but he hopes to build a large, centralized pavilion to entice residents to hold events and birthday parties there. He said the first two community input sessions will be held May 11 and 13.
“We serve a lot of people over there,” Benusches said. “There’s a neighborhood that butts up to it. So, one, we want to make sure that it’s a nice park for the neighborhood, and two, there’s several programs that go on over there.”
He said people often drop boats into the water at Pepper Branch Park where the city already built a nice ramp. He said Rocket Park is at the halfway point of the river and people frequently want to pull their boats out there, but the ramp is dilapidated.
“The paving of the entrance and the parking lot too, it’ll help vehicle safety, really, and park-goer safety,” Benusches said. “To prevent injury to people and their cars.”
He said getting the park up to par with others in the area could attract much more visitation. He said his goal is a better environment overall.
“We want to prioritize what they want to see,” Benusches said. “Because we may have different ideas than they have and we want to know what they want.”
