Community organizations celebrate upgrades to Macon park

A downtown Macon park was heralded Wednesday as an example of what happens when community organizations come together to make a neighborhood better.

The leaders of Macon-Bibb County and various organizations who helped pave the way for improvements at Daisy Park were on hand to celebrate the remodeled park on Forsyth Street. Located across the street from the Medical Center, Navicent Health, Daisy Park is part of a master plan of upgrades that tie into two other neighborhood anchors -- Tower Park and High Street Park.

Much of the more than $100,000 in funding for Daisy Park's improvements came courtesy of a series of Knight Neighborhood Challenge grants that are being used to transform the College Hill Corridor, a link between Mercer University and downtown Macon. The Macon-Bibb County Recreation Department also donated $38,650 for the basketball court's fence at the park and the master plan.

Other project partners such as Jay's Hope and the Ronald McDonald House were critical to the upgrades being completed, said Julia Wood, director of donor services for the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, which administered the Knight Challenge grants.

"This park truly is a public-private partnership," she said.

Daisy Park's improvements include a refurbished basketball court, a water feature, bike racks and more.

The park offers a place of relaxation for families visiting the hospital, said Cindy Gaskins, with Jay's Hope, an organization that works with the families of children battling cancer.

"We wanted a space for our families to come and enjoy during those waiting times," she said.

Daisy's upgrades are the first phase of the Triple Triangle Parks Master Plan that incorporates Tower and High Street parks. Additional funding will be needed to complete the improvements to the parks.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Community organizations celebrate upgrades to Macon park ."