Byrdstown has received an estimated $100,000 tourism enhancement grant for more improvements at Main Street Park.
The improvement will consist of upgrading the park’s pavilion and expanding the stage. Byrdstown Mayor Sam Gibson said he and the aldermen are excited to receive the grant.
“That area is used more than anything else, and so it’s, that’s great to get the opportunity to go over and maybe to expand, rebuild our stage, expand it,” Gibson said. “Make it much bigger, make it more appealing.”
Gibson said the money will also go towards other improvements for the pavilion, such as shade cloths and lights. Gibson said he hopes to start on the improvements as soon as possible.
“It will take us, you know, a few weeks, a month or so to get all the contracts and everything signed, get everything lined up,” Gibson said. “But we are gonna hopefully start quickly because if there is any way at all, we would like to get this new stage in place by the fourth of July of next year. We have a big event on the fourth.”
Gibson said the plan is that the town could still have events at the park, but the stage and pavilion would not be used during construction. One area of the park that is back open is the parking lot.
“It’s all been finished, and it really looks good,” Gibson said. “And so we got a new parking lot, completely paved.”
The town had concerns about when the contractor would return to finish the paving after soft soils had to be addressed mid-project. Gibson said he is glad to have the parking lot finished and that with the grant, everything seems to be falling into place to have a great park.
