The Planters Bank-Jennie Stuart Health Sportsplex reopened Monday in Phase I of the Hopkinsville Parks and Recreation plan to bring back operations affected by the coronavirus closures.
Phase I also includes green spaces, pavilions at DeBow Recreational Complex and Ruff Park, restrooms, disc golf courses at DeBow and Trail of Tears Park, Hopkinsville Skatepark, the Thomas Street Recreation Center and the Second Street Community Building.
“It was a really good feeling to already see some folks outside on the DeBow soccer fields Monday morning,” Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tab Brockman said in a news release “We are very proud of the community’s facilities, and it’s been difficult to watch them go unused. We are thrilled to begin the process of letting people return to the local parks, and rediscovering our wonderful community.”
Most of the city’s parks and recreational facilities had been closed since March 15.
The reopening will occur in three stages. Phase II, set for June 15, will reopen tennis courts and some playgrounds. Phase III, on July 1, will begin expanding group sizes to at least 50.
For now, rentals and usage are limited to groups of 10 or fewer people, as state guidelines mandate. Outdoor basketball courts won’t reopen until August, and sportsplex activities, including basketball shoot-arounds, batting cages and indoor cornhole, are by appointment. Call 270-985-1700 to book.
For other reservations and questions, call 270-887-4290. Parks and Recreation also has an events listing.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
