One of Thomasville’s most loved public greenspaces is now reopened for the community’s enjoyment. After many months of work, the Cherokee Lake Park improvement project is now nearly complete, and the walking trail and other amenities are now fully available for public use.
“At this stage, the project is substantially complete, with only minor clean-up items remaining to be addressed,” says Eve Geyer, City of Thomasville Project Manager. “Soon the final improvements will be made but none of these will impact public enjoyment of the park, which is now fully open for the public to use. We are pleased to be able to return this park to our community and hope the many enhancements we’ve made to Cherokee Lake Park are enjoyed for many years to come.”
To celebrate the reopening of Cherokee Lake Park, a short ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on Saturday, September 8th at 9:30 am at the park. “We understand how much our community loves Cherokee Lake Park, so we felt this was certainly an occasion worth celebrating,” said Sarah Baggett, marketing director. “We hope local park lovers will join us as we celebrate Cherokee Lake Park being officially reopened.”
The Cherokee Lake Park improvement project began as a proactive step to avoid future structural problems and possible safety issues with the park dam. “The timing of the project allowed us to address other issues in the park,” says Geyer. “The boardwalks and walking trail have been repaired. We’ve also widened the path on the west side of the park to better connect to the future addition of the Community Trail.”
Cherokee Lake’s public restroom facilities and pavilions have also been updated by the City of Thomasville’s Public Works Department. “The Public Works department worked hard to update these spaces,” says Geyer.
The City of Thomasville engaged an arborist to help identify diseased and dying trees so that they could be safely removed and replaced. In addition, the lake has been dredged in several areas and fish habitats have been added in a few locations.
Geyer said that while there was some disappointment that the improvement project schedule fell slightly behind, the project ended successfully. “The improvement project remained within budget and project objectives were met,” she said. “We are very pleased with the results and with being able to return a much-improved Cherokee Lake Park to our community.”