The Gainesville City Council honored on Tuesday the Gainesville Parks and Recreation team for 100 years of service to the community.
“The City of Gainesville is grateful to the members who have served on the Gainesville Parks & Recreation Board and to the many dedicated parks and recreation professionals who have tirelessly and faithfully served the Gainesville community over the last 100 years,” Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon said.
Director of Parks and Recreation Kate Mattison said Gainesville has not opened a new park since Linwood Nature Preserve in 2004, until 2024 when they will debut ‘The Coop’.
The facility is named after Melvin Cooper who served with the Parks Department for 47 years.
‘The Coop’ will have five baseball/softball fields, one multi-purpose field, walking trails, playgrounds, pavilions and concession/restroom buildings.
Several parks and recreation staff were honored on Tuesday including Brian Peters who was given the Mountain Mover Award, the Go Getter Award was presented to Freddie Hernandez, the Steadfast Award went to Aaron Barnett, Daniel Ramirez was presented the Over Achiever Award, the Rookie of the Year was given to Kenesha Cooper, Maury McKinney was named Mr. Resolute, Jada Johnson was named Susie Sunshine and the Chaos Coordinator award was presented to Justin Latoni.
“The Gainesville Parks & Recreation Agency has diligently strived to fulfill their mission of seeking to enrich the quality of life of the citizens they serve by providing safe and accessible facilities and a diversified program of activities in an effective, efficient, equitable and responsive manner,” Couvillon said.
