Lights at Newtown Park are in the works! After nearly two years of petitioning, speaking at city council meetings, Park Master Plan revising, and spreading the word in our local neighborhoods, lights are in the budget for Newtown Park. Keep reading below to see the details of where we are and how we got here. 

In our last update, we shared that the Parks consultant had recommended that lights be built at Newtown Park at many of the fields and courts, including tennis, pickleball, basketball, lacrosse, dog park, and sports fields. After some meetings between the local neighborhood bordering the park and some city council members/RPAC members, the sports fields were removed from the recommended Master Parks Plan. This removal was formalized in the February 28th City Council work session report, seen here. While frustrating that the main sports fields were removed from the plan, we were hopeful that the other fields and courts would be selected for lighting. After striking the soccer fields from the recommended plan, the plan was accepted by the council.

In this February meeting, the council asked the RPAC members to recommend how the $1M in initial parks funding for FY23 be set aside. Using the Parks Master plan as a guide, RPAC identified 9 key priorities that the council could prioritize for funding in the next few years. These priorities can be seen here. Out of these 9 priorities, 4 were selected and recommended to the council as key projects to consider for FY23 funding. These are:

• Expansion/resurfacing and lighting of pickleball courts at Newtown Park ($400K)
• Improve Parking, Grading, Drainage at Autrey Mill Nature Preserve ($100K for Engineering)
• Begin design of Cauley Creek Park Phase II elements ($200K) 
• Chattahoochee Greenway Phase II ($300K) 

The number one priority identified by RPAC to the council for FY23 is the expansion, resurfacing, and lighting of the pickleball courts at Newtown! By expansion, RPAC clarifies that they mean increasing the number of courts from 4 to 8. 

In FY24, RPAC recommends adding lighting to the lacrosse field at Newtown. Lights for the tennis courts and dog park may be considered for future years as well. 

Thank you to everyone for your passion and energy fighting for this petition! Please continue to share it with friends and neighbors and leave comments below. We could not do this without your support.