Page 10 - TNPW Mar-Apr 2018

FARRAGUT By Wendy Smith
Mayor Bob Leonard Park Retooled

Mayor Bob Leonard Park, named for the
Town of Farragut’s first mayor, is in the final
stages of a $1.4 million renovation that will
mean more residents—and out-of-town
guests—will be able to experience Leonard’s
legacy.

Farragut was incorporated on Jan. 16,
1980, and the first Board of Mayor and
Aldermen was elected April 1, 1980.
The town was founded with a sincere
commitment to controlled development,
excellent roads, and the continued
growth of parks, greenways and leisure
opportunities.

Bob Leonard served as Farragut’s first
mayor from 1980 until 1993, when he
retired. He was named Mayor of the Year by
the Tennessee Municipal League in 1991.
The first parcel of the park that would be
named for him upon his retirement was
purchased in 1985. The first construction
project at the park was a softball field, built
in 1987.

A total of five parcels were purchased to
create what is now a 50-acre park. Mayor
Bob Leonard Park has grown to be one of
the premier sports complexes in the region,
with five lighted rectangular fields, four
lighted diamond fields, and three lighted
sand volleyball courts. Other attractions
include a one-mile accessible walking trail
around a wetland area in the center of the
park and a lighted playground, built in
2015.

Because of its size and level of use, the
park has two restrooms. But those facilities
weren’t enough to meet the needs of the
popular park, said Sue Stuhl, Director
of Farragut’s Parks and Leisure Services
Department. And one of the restrooms
needed an accessibility upgrade.

A $500,000 Local Parks and Recreation
Fund matching grant administered through
the Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation, Recreation Educational
Services Division made the restroom
renovation, as well as several other
improvements, possible.

Stuhl applied for the grant, which is
available from the state for capital projects
in parks, in 2016. The proposed project
included the expanded restroom facility,
conversion of a rectangular field from
natural to synthetic turf, construction of
40 additional lighted parking spaces and
10 TPW March/April 2018