Two separate bids on the Magee playground and pickle ball courts will be opened , September 24, the next step to beginning the process of adding the recreation areas to Magee City Park.
According to Christian Carrico, a Keep Magee Beautiful volunteer who is spearheading the project, the hope is to have the playground available sometime in the spring of 2025 with the pickle ball courts completed by the end of 2024. Once building begins on the playground, there is about a six month turn on the playground equipment.
This venture began in 2023 with several forms of funding available. Now nearly $630,000 is available for both projects. “We’ll find out once the bids are opened where we stand money wise. We may be a little bit short; we’ll just have to see. We’re always taking sponsorship for any of the parts. Peoples Bank is sponsoring the core complex; PriorityOne is sponsoring the playground but inside the playground you can sponsor individual components,” Carrico explained.
The playground will have separate areas for younger children, two to six, and children seven and older. Both will have swings and slides along with a climbing zone reaching 10 feet at its highest point. In addition swings and a merry-go-round designed especially for disabled children are being planned.
Carrico also led the original Magee playground built in 2003. One of the biggest differences between this playground and the first is the ground cover. The mulch in the original playground had to be replaced numerous times. A rubberized covering was sought initially but was cost prohibitive. This time, planners found an in-between solution that provides the same safety standards but at a significant savings.
The four pickle ball courts are located behind the tennis courts and are side by side adjacent to the playground.
Security cameras are already in place in the Magee City Park. When the playground is finished a six to eight foot chain link fence will enclose it with one gated entry, closing from dusk to dawn. Railroad grant funds and a recent Keep Mississippi Beautiful grant will provide for a natural fence of shrubs and greenery built inside and along the fence line.
Renovations will be made to the bathrooms on site along with clean up and striping of the parking lot. The walking path will be maintained. The original memorial bricks and United States map will also remain at the entrance to the playground. Picnic tables on concrete pads will be placed throughout the open spaces. Plans in the future include re-establishment of the amphitheatre.
Carrico’s interest in playgrounds began when his daughter Shelby, now an adult, was a toddler. “I always love talking about a playground. It’s just fun. It goes back to Shelby, really. There were just a couple of dilapidated swings when she was born. I figured we could do better. So we just started from there.”
