Putnam’s University of Georgia county Extension Service Office will soon be moving across town into the currently vacant Jimmy Davis Park (JDP) building on Hogan Boulevard, a site of confusion and contention these past couple of years.
After two years of wrangling on the assumption the park could be re-opened as a recreation facility, the suddenness and lack of community involvement in the final decision also spurred some frustrated and skeptical comments at last week’s county board of commissioners’ meeting.
The move, as presented by long-time extension agent Keith Fielder, will bring with it a wide range of services and opportunities for the local community. These will still include the basketball courts, playing fields and walking track in the recreation area, with classes and activities for both adults and 4-H youths, too.
In a deal approved unanimously by the board of commissioners, the JDP facility would get daytime staffing and oversight. The Extension Service would get expanded space, including a kitchen and meeting room, as well as closeness to a core community it serves. The Eatonton-Putnam Water and Sewer Authority (EPWSA) would get all the space (and ownership) in the former National Guard armory on Oak Way.
“We lost everything,” JDP community organizer J.D. Jones said. “The community should have been more involved.”
“I’m kinda’ upset,” said Karen Evans. “We should be coming together as one. A lot of kids need programs to teach how to become young men and young women.”
After Fielder’s presentation, Patricia Hurt thought it would be “awesome that 4-H would be going in,” teaching things like public speaking. However, she added concerns about after-hours usage and overall control of the facility, asking, “4-H? The community? The county?”
One man thought it felt like the decision was “being crammed down our throats.”
Newly-elected Commission Chairman Bill Sharp said, “I strongly believe we are headed in the right direction.”
In the two-year run-up to last week’s decision and faced with maintenance and staffing costs, neither the City of Eatonton nor the county government proved eager to expand recreation services. In recent months, the county had been looking into leasing the facility to a fitting public or private partner, including one idea that had the park turning into a privately- run baseball training facility.
Commissioner Daniel Brown, whose District 2 includes JDP, asked for patience.
“Change – good change – takes time,” Brown said. “We want to start here and build on it … It will grow but it won’t happen overnight.”