Yazoo City has acquired $95,000 in a matching state grant to construct a walking trail at Campanella Park.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks grant approval was announced during the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s open meeting Monday afternoon.
“This will be the first time any real improvements have been done to Campanella Park in a long time,” said Mayor Diane Delaware. “We are going to build a walking trail in Campanella Park. The walking trail will not be a circular trail. It will be a trail that we will try to get up to two miles if you walk it.”
Delaware said the grant will also include landscaping and beautification efforts.
“We will plant shrubbery, and it will really change the landscape over in Campanella Park,” she said. “It will be an extremely well-done walking space.”
Delaware said she feels the location of Campanella Park, along with its upcoming improvements, will encourage visitors to visit and invest in the local park.
“Over there…that is a place where it is very easy to get to it,” Delaware said. “It’s deeply in the community. We believe everyone will use it.”
Delaware said she is currently working with Parks and Recreation Director Sedric Hudson to look for ways to raise funds to improve Campanella Park’s playground equipment, the establishment of a fitness center and perhaps construct a splash pad.
“Campanella Park is a piece of flat land that we want to make it be a community park,” Delaware said. “Fitness is really important for us in Yazoo City. The one thing about the wealth of a city is that it can be measured also in the health of the city.”
The announcement of the state grant this week will open the door for future grant acquisitions on behalf of the city of Yazoo City, Delaware said.
“We make ourselves available for other funding for parks and recreation,” she said.
