The City of Dalton will receive more than $4 million in funding from a state grant program for a streetscape sidewalk renovation project on Pentz and Cuyler Streets and for improvements to the playing fields at Heritage Point Park. The grant program is aimed at improving neighborhood assets in communities around the state that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Brian Kemp announced awards totaling $225 million for 142 qualified projects that improve sidewalks, recreation facilities and healthy food access.
“We are very excited to receive these grants,” said Dalton City Administrator Andrew Parker.
“We see both projects as opportunities to reinvest in our infrastructure and our parks system and both projects tie back into an opportunity to continue to create economic growth with visitors who are coming to our parks or to downtown Dalton.”
City leaders submitted the bids for the two projects in cooperation with the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission. The support and guidance of both State Representative Kasey Carpenter and State Senator Chuck Payne were essential in winning the grant awards.
Officials said, "The project to complete the streetscape renovations to Pentz and Cuyler Streets has been on the drawing board since the original downtown master plan was created in the year 2000. The renovations to those streets was not completed at the same time as the rest of downtown due to budget constraints. The project will renovate sidewalks and landscaping features consistent with the rest of downtown, but more importantly will also improve the streets’ function for pedestrians and create a link between Burr Park and Gateway Park on Thornton Avenue."
“We were able to talk about Cuyler Street’s relevance as a gateway to downtown and also as a connecting corridor for two parks,” Mr. Parker said. “Gateway Park, which was formerly the fountain park, is also due for some upgrades and we hope this will allow us to reimagine that park.”
"The project to replace the infields at Heritage Point Park with synthetic turf will improve the experience for both local ballplayers and also visitors who play in tournaments," officials said. "The fields at Heritage Point are now nearly 20 years old and are not resilient after rain events. The new synthetic turf infields will feature state of the art drainage systems which will allow play to resume more quickly after storms which will make Dalton more competitive as a host venue for tournaments."
“We’re really excited about making a reinvestment in those fields and that’s a project that will have a direct impact on the local economy because we imagine it being done with synthetic turf that is manufactured by one of our local world class synthetic turf manufacturers,” Mr. Parker said.
The budget for the Heritage Point project is $2.5 million, $2.2 million of which is being funded by the state grant. A local match of approximately $300,000 will come from the city. The budget for the Cuyler/Pentz streetscape project is $3.75 million, $2.19 million of which will be funded by the state grant. A local match of $1.5 million is being planned. Civil engineering plans for that project have already been completed and city staff is now working to complete the bid package so the project can be put out to bidders, officials said.