The Clarksville Rotary Foundation has been awarded a $239,000 Clarksville-Montgomery County (CMC) Community Health Foundation grant to fund the renovation of the City of Clarksville’s Coy Lacy Park.
Coy Lacy Park, located at 105 Canterbury Road, was chosen by the Rotary Foundation to receive grant funding. The donation to the City of Clarksville will enable Clarksville Parks & Recreation to replace all existing playground equipment with inclusive equipment that is entirely American Disability Act (ADA) accessible, including surface materials that exceed ADA guidelines for wheelchair accessibility. Coy Lacy Park will soon be the second playground to feature solid surfacing in Parks & Recreation’s inventory, following the renovation of Edith Pettus Park and Splash Park in 2016.
During a check presentation on Wednesday, March 2, the Clarksville Rotary Foundation received a check from CMC Community Health Foundation Grants Committee Chair Dr. Mark Trawinski. Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts was present to express his gratitude to the Rotary Foundation for their continued support and investment into the Clarksville community.
“We are honored to receive such a generous investment from the Clarksville Rotary Foundation,” Mayor Joe Pitts said. “Coy Lacy Park has been the center of discussion for some time in terms of renovation, and this donation will give us the ability to turn Coy Lacy Park into a park the surrounding community can enjoy for years to come.”
The playground at Coy Lacy Park was built in 1994, making it the oldest neighborhood playground in Parks & Recreation’s inventory and the ideal candidate for future funding. Clarksville Parks & Recreation recently solicited a survey yielding 483 responses from the surrounding community. Mayor Pitts and Parks & Recreation staff also visited the nearby Burt Elementary School to hear input from students, including a student who uses a wheelchair that requested Mayor Pitts to “build a playground for children like me.”
This partnership between the Clarksville International Rotary Clubs and the City of Clarksville has happened once before, previously partnering to fund, construct and landscape the playground at Heritage Park in 2016.
Photo caption: (left to right) CMC Community Health Foundation Grants Committee Member Vincent Pinkney, Grants Committee Chair Mark Trawinski, Sunrise Rotary President Pat Donahue, and District 6760 Governor Nominee Betty Burchett.