A brief ceremony Saturday morning officially recognized the reopening of the refurbished Jimmy Davis Park (JDP) in southeast Eatonton.
With not many locals but several county and city officials in attendance, Putnam County Commission Chair Bill Sharp addressed a crowd of about 50 inside the park’s main building.
“We’ve committed to moving Jimmy Davis Park forward and trying to make improvements, and the number-one thing is to make a safe place for our children,” Sharp said in his opening remarks. “They’re our future, and we’ve got to have a safe place for them to play.”
Sharp then outlined several of the repairs and improvements made to JDP since work started on the park in June 2023, with clearing overgrown brush, broken-down wooden fencing, and overall cleanup.
Now, the park is fully enclosed by a sturdy metal fence, its playing fields are cut and groomed, there are refurbished basketball courts, a new playground for smaller kids, a repaired swing set, newly paved parking lots, and a full-time park manager, Tweedy Parham, is onsite.
“I’m doing something I love now,” Parham said. “I worked at Georgia Pacific for 14 years, and now I’m in a spot where I’m around the kids. I love to be around the community. And the older people that set the groundwork for us, I love making sure they’re happy with stuff. They warm my heart.”
Newly elected District 1 County Commissioner Tom McElhenney recalled visiting JDP as a teenager in the early 1980s.
“I would come over here with some of my friends, and we had friends here, too. We played basketball. There was always a game over here on Saturday all day long,” McElhenney said. “Of course, it didn’t look anything like this. It looks fantastic now. I love to see it looking like this.”
Though JDP is situated well within Eatonton city limits, Putnam County owns the property and spent approximately $200,000 on its refurbishment, County Manager Paul Van Haute confirmed. The decision to spend the money did not come easily; however, the county even tried to “gift” the park back to the city early last year, an offer that was roundly refused.
The land for Jimmy Davis Park was originally given to Eatonton in 1968 by the U.S. Department of Natural Resources with the stipulation that it remain parkland, but in the mid-2000s, its deed was transferred to county control. Regardless, the resurrection of the park represents a 20-year project for City Councilmember Janie Reid, who started working on it in 2003 as a county commissioner.
“Things happen when administrations change, so some things had been sort of downhill, with Jimmy Davis Park being one of those. It was not high on the priority list if you will,” Reid acknowledged of recent years.
“However, I definitely want to give credit to Commissioner Daniel Brown. Although he defeated me in the election for this district back in 2015, he came in with the attitude that he wanted to continue to work to make Jimmy Davis Park viable in the community,” she continued. “And Commissioner Brown, he made sure that my legacy, Jimmy Davis’ legacy, and the part I played in helping to create a legacy or to add more to the legacy of Jimmy Davis was remembered; Commissioner Brown made sure of that. Personally, I’m happy.”