Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023–5:15 p.m.

-David Crowder, WRGA News-

Renovations and additions are on the way for Grizzard Park.

On Tuesday, the Rome-Floyd County YMCA got approval from the Floyd County Commission for a special use permit to build a multi-use recreational facility.

“This building is quite important for us,” said Scott McCreless with the YMCA. “We have a lot of sports and a lot of camps, sports, and activities out at Grizzard Park. On extreme heat days or extreme weather days, it gets kind of tough. We are looking at building a large facility that would have two multi-purpose courts, a conference room, and bathrooms.”

According to McCleless, the building will also allow for the expansion of the day camp program.

“We know that there is a need locally for affordable, quality childcare and our camps provide that,” he said. “Right now, we can only take about 100 kids per summer. If it’s a rainy day, a thunder and lightning day, or an extremely hot day, which tends to happen in July and August, there’s not a lot of air-conditioned space out there and there’s certainly not a lot of space to get out of the weather.”

The new building will also open up training opportunities for the 1,000 participants in the soccer program when there is inclement weather.

Other expansions that will be made possible are the YMCA’s basketball and food programs.