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Forsyth County reopens Bennett Park after multi-year renovation
Summary
Forsyth County marked the reopening of Bennett Park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that highlighted new athletic fields, a community building and accessibility upgrades funded in part by a voter-approved continuation of the SPLOST sales-tax program.
Forsyth County Manager David McKe welcomed a crowd to Bennett Park on the afternoon of the county’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, saying the renovated site connects “generations in the past and hopefully many many generations into the future.” McKe said the project was made possible in part because county voters last November approved the continuation of the special-purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST), which helped fund the renovations.
District 4 Commissioner Mindy Moore, who described Bennett Park as the county’s first park after it opened in 1978, said the upgrades create new opportunities for the northeast part of the county. “The addition of new athletic fields, gathering spaces, trails, and a community building creates opportunities for people to come together in so many different ways,” Moore said, adding that the new community building will serve “as a place for meetings, events, voting, and community connection.”
Event organizers used the remarks portion of the ceremony to thank county parks and recreation staff, capital projects personnel and partners on the project. The host noted the May 2024 groundbreaking and recognized long-serving staff and community participants who were part of the planning process.
Keith High Tower of Hussy Gay Bell, the design firm on the project, described a multi-decade relationship with Forsyth County and said the Bennett Park work was “a 7-year effort beginning with master planning, programming with park and recreation, community involvement, community meetings.” He said the firm’s work on Bennett represents a continuation of a long partnership on local park projects.
Levi Brush, senior superintendent for MAP, the construction contractor, described site challenges during construction, including excavation of a large hill that the crew removed during grading. “That’s where we found all of our rock,” Brush said, calling the project “a labor of love” and saying the firm takes pride in seeing residents using the finished facilities.
The ceremony concluded with a ribbon cutting led by county officials, park board members and children invited onstage. Organizers said Bennett Park’s reopened amenities — new fields, parking, batting cages, trails and a community building — are intended to serve recreational leagues, families and community events moving forward.
