Construction work at Willie Lynch Park is almost complete. The City of Newnan has contracted with Georgia Development Partners to design and construct several overall park improvements to the existing park located at the intersection of Wesley Street and Richard Allen Drive. The park is currently home to the Wesley Street Gym, Pickett Field, and the recently opened Lynch Park Pool. The Newnan Boys and Girls Club is also located directly across street the from the park.
Improvements to Lynch Park include increased and reconfigured parking spaces for the gym, a new parking lot for ball fields and the swimming pool, a new multi-purpose field, increased playground space, enhanced vehicular and pedestrian circulation within the park, improved overall grading and drainage, and upgraded curbing, sidewalk, and fencing along Wesley Street. The City also made renovations to the dugouts, bleachers, chain link fencing, and concession stand at the existing baseball field.
Also as part of the overall park improvements, the City installed one of the first permeable paver parking lots to be located in Newnan. Unlike traditional asphalt or concrete, the permeable pavers allow water to run through the parking lot rather than pool on top or run off of it. The water percolates through it when it seeps through the spaces in the brick pavers to cleansing layers of gravel below. The gravel acts as a natural filter, cleaning the water of pollutants.
The environmentally friendly permeable paving system was specifically chosen in this particular situation to eliminate a detention pond, to reduce stormwater runoff, to reduce pollutants from stormwater runoff, and to provide a solid and practical educational demonstration project to encourage further use.
Project manager and City Landscape Architect Mike Furbush noted that, “We have made several recreational improvements to Lynch Park over the past few years including a spacious covered pavilion, a half mile walking path, and a substantial multi-colored playground. Last year, the City completed the overwhelmingly popular Lynch Park Pool. We just felt like we needed to do something that would really bring together all the various elements of the park. I think that we have successfully done that.”
The Lynch Park improvement project cost approximately $360,000 and was funded from the 2007 Special Local Option Sales Tax.
