Jackson MS Parham Bridges Park receives $6.9 million in upgrades

Parham Bridges Park in northeast Jackson will be upgraded, including the addition of pickleball courts and a par-3 golf course, after the Jackson City Council approved the project during its meeting Tuesday.

The funding, however, is not coming from the city of Jackson. Instead, the LeFleur East Foundation is preparing to invest $6.9 million in improving the park. The city council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with the foundation on Tuesday.

“We would build the facilities, like the pickleball courts, and improve the expansion of the tennis facility … When we get all that done, it’ll be back to the city,” said Clay Hays, chairman of the foundation’s board. “The idea is we’re not taking it away from the city. We’d help the city improve the park.”

The LeFleur East Foundation is “kind of a super-neighborhood association,” Hays said, made up of 22 neighborhoods in East and Northeast Jackson — mostly in Ward 1 and Ward 7 — and the businesses there. The foundation’s boundaries are the east side of I-55 to the Pearl River, LeFleur’s Bluff State Park to the south and Canton Mart Road to the north.

The plans to upgrade Parham Bridges Park come nearly three months after a murder occurred on the park’s tennis courts. Jackson Police later made an arrest in connection with the killing.

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“We said, ‘This is not good, this is not a good image for us,'” Hays said. “And so we hired off-duty sheriff’s officers to provide security in June, July and now August. We’re doing everything we can to be good neighbors.”

However, Hays said the murder would not stop people from visiting the park, as there had already been a “resurgence” in visitor numbers.

And now there is hope that the planned improvements will bring even more people back to the park, Hays said.

Ideas for improving the Parham Bridges emerged after the foundation held a charrette with families, business owners and city leaders. A master plan was agreed upon that will be implemented in four phases.

Below is what is done in each phase:

Phase One: A three-hole par-3 golf course will be built with an associated walking trail. The entire park will be fenced, new awnings and artificial turf will be installed for the playground, and a security system will be installed.
Phase Two: The old parking lot will be demolished and the trail extended; a new metal truss bridge will be built; existing courts will be improved and eight new tennis courts and six new pickleball courts will be built.
Phase Three: “A complete overhaul” of the park’s existing clubhouse; construction of a central parking lot with 164 spaces; installation of a new sign at the main entrance and directional signs along the trail.
Phase four: Trees will be felled; stormwater will be managed by building a retention basin and biofilter trough; a running track and new pedestrian bridges will be built.

They hope to complete all of this by fall, Hays said.

“We like projects that can be implemented immediately,” he said.

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