City of Jasper News
AUGUST 12, 2022
LEE NEWTON PARK IS OPEN
UPDATE 8/12/22:
Lee Newton Park is OPEN!
Our partners at Georgia Power have restored electricity at Lee Newton Park and we are officially open! Come on out and enjoy!
UPDATE 8/5/22:
Our partners at Georgia Power have been busy replacing the light poles within the park this week. The city has 2 pedestals that were sheared off at their bases remaining to be repaired - we believe that we will have that completed within a few days. Last but not least, there will be work performed on the stage by a group of wonderful volunteers from The Church, Jasper GA this Saturday.
As soon as we receive the go ahead that it is safe to allow pedestrian traffic back in, we will get Lee Newton Park opened back up. We are hoping that folks can start enjoying the park again sometime prior to next weekend!
UPDATE ON FACEBOOK 7/29/22:
First of all, let us say THANK YOU to everyone who has commented, shared our original post, and reached out to the City with offers of assistance. We cannot begin to express our gratitude to our community for the support.
We know that everyone is anxious for an update on when the park will be reopened, and we are hopeful that it can be opened in a limited capacity soon. The damages to the electrical infrastructure were substantial and that will take some time to have replaced/repaired. We are thankful for our community partners at Georgia Power for responding so quickly Wednesday night/Thursday morning, and we are waiting for their confirmation that there are no safety concerns remaining prior to opening the park again.
As soon as we know that the park can safely be reopened, we'll let you know.
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UPDATE 7/28/22: The person responsible for the damages at Lee Newton Park has been caught and is in jail!
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During the overnight hours, the fields at Lee Newton Park were heavily damaged during an incident of vandalism. The City of Jasper Police Department - Georgia is investigating, and what we know so far is that the fields have been torn up by at least one vehicle. In addition, multiple light poles were hit and knocked over from their pedestals leaving exposed wires, and power receptacles have been damaged.
City crews have been out with the power company to perform an initial assessment of the damages and to close off the entrances to the park. We will be back out this morning to start the clean up process and conduct a more thorough assessment of what work will need to be done. Until the electrical issues have been resolved, the park will be closed until further notice.
The City will be reaching out on Thursday to all parties who have upcoming scheduled events in Lee Newton Park. We'll provide updates on the status of repairs as soon as we can.