At its September 18, 2000 meeting, the Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of an additional 20.1 acres for the future expansion of Eastern Park in Smyrna. The additional land will more than double the size of this park, and will enable the County to construct additional park facilities in the future as funds become available. The County agreed to purchase this land for $6,000 per acre, which was less than the appraised value of $6,500 per acre. The total purchase price is $120,600.

Eastern Park is one of the County’s five district parks, and is designed to serve the Down East area between North River bridge and Davis. The existing park is approximately 12 acres, which is the smallest of the five district parks (the others range in size from 15 to 35 acres). The existing park consists of two baseball / softball fields (that also serve as football / soccer fields), one all-purpose field area, two tennis courts, and a picnic shelter. The existing ballfields are heavily used, and the fact that the park consists of only two fields causes scheduling problems for leagues and limits the availability of the fields for practice sessions or other unscheduled use. Eastern Park also has limited areas designated for parking. Park patrons often must park along the main access road, in the grass, or along US 70. Including the additional land, the total acreage of Eastern Park will increase to approximately 32 acres, making Eastern Park the third largest County park (behind Swinson Park and Western Park). The additional acreage will be sufficient to construct additional ballfields, parking areas, and other park facilities, and, after development, should alleviate the scheduling problems and parking concerns.

It should be noted that there is no established timetable for development of the park, and no funds have been identified for construction of
improvements. The site has been timbered, but there is still considerable
clearing work that must be done in order to utilize the site as park land.
Staff are planning to solicit assistance from the US Marine Corps to
complete the clearing of the site at no cost to the County. Construction of
new ballfields and other park facilities will depend on the availability of
grant funding and the County's budget situation in future fiscal years. The
County has submitted a grant application to the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund for the development of the additional park land, and we are optimistic that this grant will be approved this year. If the grant application is successful, the County could begin to develop the park in FY 2001-2002. If the County is unable to secure grant funds, the development of the park will be included in a revised capital improvements program, and will be scheduled according to its relative priority over other County capital needs.

Although the timetable for park development is uncertain, the County was pleased to secure this land for the future expansion of Eastern Park. As the County becomes more developed, the availability of suitable land adjacent to our existing parks will diminish. The purchase of the additional land for Eastern Park insures that this park will have the necessary acreage for future park facilities.

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