By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Grayson Sports Park has been living up to its name, and its purpose, bringing revenue into the city through tournament play throughout the season as teams and their families and supporters flock to Grayson from outside the area. This influx of hundreds of new people to Grayson has generated tourism dollars for the city already, according to the tourism board, and it continues to grow each year. But park manager Grant Harper wants people to know that it isn’t just about tourism dollars; the Grayson Sports Park is there for the use of the community as well.
“From a tourism perspective, the purpose of the sports park is to bring people to Grayson who would otherwise not come here,” Harper said. That’s a mandated requirement for a park that was built using funds generated from a tourism tax.
“But its twofold,” he added. “Because it also allows the community of Grayson to have something on a level they wouldn’t otherwise be able to have.”
Part of the reason for this, Harper explained, is that the funding sources used to build the sports park (grants, etc.) are only available for tourism projects. Building the sports park not only allowed Grayson to have an exceptional sports tourism draw, but also allows the community to enjoy everything that the facility has to offer as well.
“It’s not just baseball fields or athletic fields,” Harper said. “We have a playground area that is well utilized by the community all week long. And all season long. There are very few times you can go there and not see the community enjoying it.”
Community members also take advantage of the shelter houses for parties, Harper said, explaining that it is something in the middle of the city that people can enjoy.
“We only use it for sports tournaments on the weekends,” Harper said of the sports park. “Saturdays and Sundays, and sometimes we will have something going on Fridays.”
During the week the Sports park hosts local teams like Little League and other local teams, Harper said.
But the park is always wide open to the public. Even on tournament days the public is welcome, though Harper said that there will be crowds.
“But because we are doing those things on the weekend it allows the community to be able to enjoy it during the week and have more to enjoy. We rent or lease the fields for tournaments,” Harper said. “But the park is always free to the community. You might have to deal with crowds and limited parking if you come on tournament days, but if you just want to use the splash pad on those days, just tell them at the gate and they will let you in for free.”
Harper said the sports park is always improving and evolving to benefit the needs and desires of the community and he tries to keep his “finger on the pulse” of the best direction forward. For instance, at a recent Grayson City Council meeting a resident mentioned a desire for some type of exercise equipment for older community members, and Harper is checking into it. There are also plans to complete a cover for the base of an outdoor amphitheater which would also increase opportunities for both ticketed and free events for the community and general public.
“I have gotten feedback from the community on what they would like to see next in the sports park,” Harper said. “And I am always looking for more.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
