Albany breaks ground on Charles Driskell Park with family
Renewing a legacy...
ALBANY, Ga. – To most people, this looks like just any other park. But, to one Albany family, it’s the memory of their patriarch and all that he stood for in the community.
Charles “Doc” Driskell Park was once a pillar of the south Albany community…
In fact, just ask his youngest daughter Ingrid, who remembers coming to the park when she was very young.
“It’s truly a long time coming. This park is in the same situation it was when I first came to the park. I started coming here when I was four or five years old. And there really haven’t been many improvements other than the pool. But now it’s going to get a complete overhaul…” said Ingrid Driskell, daughter of Charles Driskell.
The park and the surrounding neighborhood have since fallen on hard times, which is why the city broke ground on Monday…
To begin an over eight million dollar renovation to the park, as well as resurrecting programs like football with a regulation-sized field, and two basketball courts.
One woman we spoke to said that structure from these renovations is a perfect building block in the community.
“To come back into this community, come back into this same area geographically and do what I call “A major facelift” it is going to be transformational. I guarantee you that,” said Tammy Pettyjon Jones, former Albany city employee.
As Driskell’s daughters and granddaughter spoke during the groundbreaking they spoke about how much of a force he was in south Albany.
And that bringing the park back to it’s former glory as a place that built character for south Albany kids is what he would want.
“There’s a lot of youth, creative minds, athletes, and geniuses that if they really were molded and had somebody that really cared or a place that they could come, where they could have someone who shows appreciation for them, then this area would thrive a lot more,” said Daysha Polite, granddaughter of Charles Driskell.
“Oh, he was a pioneer, he was a wonderful person. He did everything, devoted all of his time energy and effort, to making the youth in this community learn about competitive sports. Football, baseball, basketball swimming, he did them all,” said Ingrid Driskell, daughter of Charles Driskell.
As work begins on renovating Charles Driskell Park, his family believe that the final results will help bring back the sense of community that he founded decades ago.
Albany Mayor Bo Dorough said during the groundbreaking that renovating Driskell Park was the first step towards improving parks and recreation in the Good Life City.
Brian Roche reporting.
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