Is it time to spruce up Tift Park? Albany officials make pitch for renovations

ALBANY – When told that Albany Mayor Bo Dorough spoke out during a Tuesday meeting about the need to make some improvements at Tift Park, Stephen Brimberry reacted with appreciation and some skepticism.

Over the years, the city has made promises about the park, the Friends of Tift Park president said, and those have for the most part fallen to the wayside. Those promises  include fixing up the abandoned tennis courts, lighting, a shelter for the Saturday market days and others.

During Tuesday’s Albany City Commission meeting, Dorough mentioned the park in relation to the newly opened Living and Learning Community located across Jefferson Street from the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital towers and a short distance down the street from the park. The center will provide housing and classroom space for students in nursing and other health professions and is a joint venture between Phoebe and Albany Technical College.

Improvements in the area also are needed because the commission is considering a plan to build housing on city-owned property in the vicinity of the hospital, the mayor said. It also is a major entryway into Albany as it is part of Georgia Highway 133 that is slated for resurfacing in the near future.

“That is a gateway to the city,” Dorough said. “This needs to move forward with a plan in the near future.”

The city and Dougherty County have for several years been working on a project to site a joint tennis/pickleball facility. While the available space at Tift Park is not sufficient for that purpose, Dorough suggested that the area where tennis courts sit growing weeds in cracks in the pavement could be used for a limited number of courts for tennis and pickleball. He also suggested a walking trail.

“I think we (should) bring back courts for the people living there and that will be moving in,” the mayor said.

The Friends of Tift Park organization operates the Saturday market in the park that runs for most of the year. Brimberry said the group would like to see improvements that would benefit nearby residents and help attract more visitors to the weekly markets.

Phoebe, which has been a benefactor to the Friends over the years, also is looking at a Habitat for Humanity housing project in the area, he said.

“With the Living and Learning center opening up, we would like to see more traffic,” Brimberry said. “We would like to see more activities, just being a nice park. I believe it needs some color, maybe get some garden clubs involved.”

Years ago, the organization was asked to weigh in at a commission meeting, Brimberry said, but since that time it has not heard anything back. Still, he said the prospect of having some attention put on the park is good to hear, and Phoebe also has pledged to pitch in for some of the items in the park’s master plan.

The addition of up to 80 new residents living at the medical education facility also will bring new life to the area.

“It’s exciting,” Brimberry said. “Now they need to build up a commercial district and the park. We try, and a lot of people live here … and I think if we keep on adding people to that area, things are going to explode.”

Brimberry said he would like to have discussions with the city and Phoebe about Tift Park’s future and putting into place some of the elements contained in the master plan for the facility.

“Obviously, I would like for the city to invite Friends of Tift Park into the discussion just for the experience we bring,” he said.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]