39 acres donated to Centreville for Park

 Mayor Bamberg announces unofficial land grant for city park

 

By Daniel L. Bamberg

Daniel@Centrevillepress.com

An agreement has been reached between a private landowner and Centreville officials regarding 39 acres of property.  The land is located just off of the intersection of Hwy. 82 and 219.

Centreville natives Patricia Wheeler Smitherman and the late Alec Wheeler provided the land grant.  Alec Weaver died in the autumn of 2010 and his portion of the property is part of his estate.  The estate was opened in April and though Patricia has signed a letter of intent, the property won’t be officially granted until October.

The large area of land is located just north of Rocko Funeral Home off of 219 and adjoins the back end of Green Tree Estates.  Another portion of the land faces highway 82.

City officials announced the owner of the property granted the land to the City for the purpose of building a public park.  The city plans on initially using the property to construct a five-field baseball complex for the youth.  Once constructed the baseball complex will be leased to a non-profit organization, Cahaba Sports in order to operate in accordance with Dixie Youth. 

The city also suggested that future plans beyond the complex would be to include shaded natural walking trails and a playground, and pavilions.  Once these plans are implemented the idea is that the park would be open and operated year round. The city wants the park’s future access to enter off of 219.

You may remember just before the passing of local businessman Cecil Crews, Centreville officials agreed to lease Cahaba River Historic Park.  In the fall of 2010 the benefactors of Crews’ estate couldn’t reach and agreement with the city regarding future operations of the park.  Therefore the lease was not renewed.  Thus, Centreville was rendered a city without a park.

City Attorney Mike Hobson is working with the current landowners to finalize the transaction.  He is also working with Cahaba Sports to finalize the agreement for operating the baseball complex.

“This is an exciting moment,” said Centreville Mayor Tom Bamberg.  “When we lost the Cahaba River Park last year it was a pretty big blow for us (Centreville).  We had a lot of plans for the park, but things don’t always go the way we want them to.  The Lord has his own way of working things out, and this may be his way of answering one of our prayers.”

Alec Wheeler and Patty Wheeler Smitherman were raised in Centreville and graduated from Bibb County High School.  Their mother worked for many years as a teacher in the Bibb County School system.  Locals knew the land donated as the “Stewart Place.”

Photo: The blue lines mark the borders of a 39-acre property that has been donated to the City of Centreville for a new park.  The donors are the late Stewart Alexander Wheeler and Patricia Wheeler Smitherman.  The land has been offered for the City of Centreville to build a city park.  Centreville has future plans for a baseball complex, shaded nature trails, playgrounds, and pavilions.  City Attorney Mike Hobson is currently working to finalize the transaction, which will not be released until October.