Save Historic Cochran Baseball Park in Stockbridge!

Georgia Showcase Baseball and several other youth baseball teams are organizing a community petition to keep Cochran Park baseball in Stockbridge open instead of uprooting children. Why because Cochran Park in Stockbridge was allowed to fall into disrepair by Henry County Commissioner Bruce Holmes and Henry County Parks and Recreation while spending $8 million on a new park in the Fairview area of Henry County near the DeKalb County line.

Closing this County Park will leave Stockbridge children without any sports fields inside the city limits. Parents will have to transport t-ball aged kids to Hidden Valley from Stockbridge to play on the same fields as teenaged kids. This is wrong when Henry County should fix Cochran Park after allowing it to fall into disrepair.

Please note: No imminent safety issues exist in the baseball fields according to the parents and coaches. They feel this is a smokescreen to move the baseball fields out of Stockbridge. We are asking for an actual engineering assessment of any safety issues at Cochran Park and a complete remodel for baseball with upgraded equipment, structures , and fields

Elton Alexander Stockbridge City Councilman statement on the closing of Cochran Park:

Stockbridge residents and businesses pay more taxes to Henry County than the unincorporated areas in Fairview because Fairview has no industry and very little in business besides the Fairview grocery stores . Stockbridge residents and businesses who pay a lion-share of the taxes in Henry County deserve a quality Henry County Park in the city limits for our children. I have complained for years on the condition and maintenance of the facility with little to no reinvestment compared to $8 million transferred to a new park in Ellenwood. Fix Cochran Park don’t close it! I fully support Coach Craig and Coach Parrish who are leading the efforts to save Cochran Park baseball in Stockbridge!

Out of $26 million in the proposed Splost V in District 5 none of that money is being spent in the Stockbridge City limits, the most densely populated area in Henry County. Cochran Park is not being closed over these sudden safety issues it is being closed because City of Stockbridge officials had the nerve to collectively call for improvements and upkeep of the park after it was allowed to fall into disrepair by the Commissioner of District 5. This after the city was forced to take over maintenance of Hwy 138 because no maintenance was being provided by the District 5 Commissioner with all of Hwy 138 falling in District 5.

With most of the voters and business tax base for District 5 in Stockbridge you would think many of those dollars would be returned to maintain the county roads and facilities in the city but out of $50 million in Splost collected in District 5 almost 95% of the money leaves Stockbridge and goes to the Fairview area. Please reopen Cochran Park safely and reinvest in new equipment to keep baseball at Historic Cochran Park honoring the wishes of the Cochran Family who donated the land for kids in Stockbridge. Let's play Baseball at Cochran Park!