Upgrades nearly complete at Macon's Washington Park

The final touches are being put on more than $200,000 in upgrades to a venerable downtown Macon park.

After nearly a year and a half of crews making improvements at Washington Park, the work is winding down. Repairs included refurbishing brick walkways, installing a new irrigation system and fixing cracks in the concrete around a reflecting pool. The upgrades should be completed in a few weeks, said Stephen Lawson, director of the Macon-Bibb County Parks and Beautification Department.

About 8,000 bricks have been laid out along the walkways, with 3,000 of them coming from Cherokee Brick & Tile Co. while the others were century-old bricks designed to help maintain the "historical look" at the park near the post office on College Street, brick mason Roscoe Ross said.

"We've brought the park back to life," said Ross, a contractor who began working on the project in November 2014.

The park's current layout dates back to the 1930s with some changes made in the 1960s and '70s. The site was once a popular place for people to take photos for weddings, proms and other events, but that dwindled for years before the current repairs began, said Sam Kitchens, assistant director of Parks and Beautification.

"(The repairs) turned it from a dilapidated park into a signature piece," he said.

The improvements have been paid for with a little more than $100,000 in grants, about $25,000 from Macon-Bibb County and $92,000 for storm draining work that came from the special purpose local option sales tax, Kitchens said.

Washington Park's upgrades also included adding new sod, about a dozen oak trees and more than 100 azaleas. By the spring, people will be able to fully enjoy the park's features, including a water fountain and concrete lanes that flow into the pool, Kitchens said.

Information from The Telegraph's archives was used in this report. To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Upgrades nearly complete at Macon's Washington Park ."