The Dobbins Heights Community Park received a playground in 1974, 10 years before Dobbins Heights was considered a township in Richmond County. The park was built on the site of the Old Capital Highway High School, which operated from 1926 until 1971.
The decades-old park could really use an upgrade, said Dobbins Heights officials.
According to Dobbins Heights Park Commissioner Angeline David, some of the playground equipment has been removed over the years as it became unsafe for children to play on. A merry-go-round and spring board among other equipment no longer stand in the park.
The park itself has a swimming pool, basketball court and tennis court as well as an area for baseball and softball. The courts are not in operation, but the pool is scheduled to open Monday. Children ages 4 - 12 may swim in the pool.
The Dobbins Heights Community Park has been entered into the Coca-Cola Live Positively America is your Park Campaign. It works like this: Anyone can visit the website and vote as many times as they want. Each vote increases the rank of the park among all the parks entered. If the park ranks highest by July 15, Dobbins Heights wins $100,000 to upgrade the park. If Dobbins Heights ends up in the top 25 ranks, they can win anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 for upgrades.
If you have a smartphone and can access the Internet, you can use tool FourSquare to vote while you are at the park. If you go to the park to vote from a smartphone, your vote will count as 100 votes.
“We would like everyone in the county to come together to vote, to help one of Richmond County’s parks to receive $100,000 to get a complete face-lift,” said Dobbins Heights Mayor Antonio Blue. “There is always potential. We’ve got to come together the same way we came together for Bucky Covington during ‘American Idol.’ To do a face-lift to the park would help instill pride in the community and throughout the county. This park is not just used by Dobbins Heights people.”
At the beginning of the campaign, Blue said the park ranked 1,800, near the bottom. On Thursday, at 4:45 p.m., the park ranked 123.
To vote, go to www.livepositively.com/parks. There you can find Dobbins Heights by entering the town information or by locating it on a map.
“My vision is that we can be number one,” said Blue, who hopes to see his child playing on the future upgraded playground with other children.
“We’ve had a lot of things to happen in Dobbins Heights. I would like to see something happen here,” said David, as she stood in the park. “This is a big vision here. If we have enough people to vote for Dobbins Heights it will be a winner. If they need one thing to be proud of, it’s a playground. I would just love to see the children grinning.”
— Staff Writer Dawn M. Kurry can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 15, or by email at dkurry@heartlandpublications.com.
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