City of Louisville puts finishing touches on new park for grand opening in July

WINSTON COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)-The city of Louisville is giving residents a way to cool off and stay active.

With the help of FEMA, city officials were able to rebuild Ivy Park Sports complex after it was damaged five years ago from a tornado.

” I remember when the original Ivy Park was built when I was five or six,” said Director of Louisville Parks and Recreation Todd McCullough.

McCullough says construction started last year in April.

Now, the historic Louisville park has returned with a lot of upgrades.

And contractors are finishing the final touches before the grand opening in July.

” The playground still has a few little touches on it, the bathroom buildings have a little bit of detail work to finish, and the playing field needs to be a bit more grown in,” said McCullough.

New features include a splash pad, playground, and four baseball fields.

Joni Stewart brings her child two to three times a week to cool off from the summer heat.

” You’re burning up in 100 degree Mississippi weather and even running on the playground you can just run over there and cool off,” said Stewart.

Stewart says Ivy Park gives residents more to do around such a small town.

” There’s not many places to go we are so rural. This is a really big blessing for the city of Louisville that we have a place to come bring our kids so they can play,” said Stewart.

Around 30 kids come everyday,including Tymorris Tucker.

” It’s good for kids to come out here and play and have fun. They have plenty of things to do out here for us children,” said Tucker.

” I’m hoping these kids remember that when they’re 50 that they’ll say,  ‘Hey I remember our playground and splash pad. I remember when it was brand new,” said McCullough.

The splash pad and playground are now open for use.

There will be an official opening for the entire sports complex mid July.