City looks for community input on renovations to Willie Mays Park

FAIRFIELD, Ala. (WIAT) – The Willie Mays Park will be getting some much-needed improvements, and city leaders are looking for input. The city of Fairfield is asking the community what kinds of amenities they want to see at the park.

By this June, city leaders say Willie Mays Park could go from being worn down and unusable to functional and a source of pride for the community.

“My vision is a more modern park. I want you to be able to come to this park and not realize that you’re in Fairfield,” said Fairfield City Councilor Cedric Norman. “Video boards, comfortable seating, being able to have baseball and softball out at this field.”

Norman is the city councilor over District 4 in Fairfield, where Willie Mays Park is located. He wants the park to become a “first-class facility,” but he wants people who will be using the park to weigh in on how it should be upgraded.

“The survey is primarily for anyone that operates a baseball or softball league, we want to get their input as far as what they would need to be able to host events out here, host tournaments, or even use it as a practice field,” he said.

Some of the people in the neighborhood surrounding the park say they’re worried about it staying nice and being safe. Norman says the city will be working with the police department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to keep the park secure.

“Big part of that is the community being involved as well. If they see some activity going on that looks suspicious or doesn’t look right, or people are in the park when they’re not supposed to be in the park, contacting law enforcement and letting them know about it so that they can recall as opposed to not saying anything and then it’s, ‘oh yeah, I did see somebody out there two weeks ago,’” Norman said. “We’re looking at the addition of security cameras as well, so we want to make sure whatever we do to this park is maintained for years to come.”

Norman says the city has around $410,000 right now from Major League Baseball for park upgrades, but he’s hoping to find additional funding so they can cover all of the renovations.

“I’d like to see $1 million. I don’t think that is out of the realm of possibility. MLB has indicated that the project could take anywhere, as far as costs, anywhere from $500,000-$750,000,” said Norman. “Our goal is to be able to implement everything that the community and our potential users have indicated to us in one swoop.”

The city’s survey will close on April 4. You can find a link to the survey here.