Allen County unveils plans for a new 120 acre park

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - A new county park in southern Scottsville will create roughly 120 acres of recreation space for community members throughout Allen County.

The park is being built alongside the existing Fred Hale Park, and officials say they hope to create an accessible and inclusive space for the entire community.

“We hear a lot, there’s nothing for young people to do. I and Mayor Burch listen to that, and we try our best to find things,” said Dennis Harper, Allen County judge-executive. “This added on to the southern part of the county will be something for our children to do, and we’re really excited about providing those for our citizens.”

The final concept for the new park includes quadplex combination baseball and softball fields, updated basketball courts, combination football and soccer fields, a sand volleyball court, a disc golf course, over two miles of paved walking trails, and two stocked fishing ponds. Harper hopes that these options will give park-goers plenty of options for recreation.

“We’re gonna clean those out a bit and keep those stocked, you know, not all kids play softball and football and soccer, some of them like to fish. So we’ll have two fishing ponds out at the park, also,” said Harper.

In addition to updated sports facilities, the park will feature new, inclusive playground equipment suited for individuals with disabilities.

Harper said, “We did some surveys, over 100 surveys when we started this plan, and the major thing that people wanted to see in Allen County was an inclusive park. So we’ll be having that done, and that’ll be done probably by fall.”

Residents and officials agree that a resource like the new community park has been overdue for Allen County, and will create new opportunities for residents of all ages.

“There’s a lot of things we feel like we need here in Allen County to get kids outside and off their phones for a little while to just enjoy life and enjoy the outside,” said Harper, “and it’s a beautiful place to have that kind of park, we’re really excited about it.”

Community leaders hope to have the park finished in time for baseball season next spring.

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