by Aaron W. Hughey

If you are looking for a place to unwind and enjoy a little physical exercise, you do not have to look far.

The Murray-Calloway County Park system is available to the community for about seven months every year.

“The County Park system actually consists of five different facilities,” explains Brad Steele, who has been park director for over a year. “These are primarily neighborhood parks that cover a total of around 149 acres.”

Steele first moved to Murray-Calloway County about three years ago. “I’ve always wanted to live in this area,” he says. “I used to come here with my father back when I was growing up.”

Steele has a staff of four full-time and six part-time employees. They also utilize six to seven inmate workers every summer.

The public obviously takes its recreation very seriously in Murray-Calloway County.

“In fact, when the Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey a while back regarding what residents wanted to see in the way of enhancements to the community, the number three growth goal was improving the park and recreation facilities in this area,” Steele says. “Fifty–eight percent of those surveyed saw this as a top priority.”

“Most of our facilities open in March and stay open through the end of October,” Steele says. “Obviously, much of what we offer is seasonal in nature.”

“There’s actually a lot going on with the Park right now,” Steele observes. “We have made several improvements in the last few months. For example,

at the Gary Hohmann Baseball Complex, we recently sodded the Bronco and Mustang fields and provided them with all new dugouts, fencing and an irrigation system.”

“Our baseball tournaments are always pretty successful,” Steele continues. “In fact, we doubled our revenue on them this year and we are already booking tournaments for next spring and summer.”

Steele indicates that they have plans to build a playground system at the baseball complex in the near future.

“We’ve also installed an irrigation system at the Bee Creek Soccer Complex and next spring we plan to add Bermuda grass and a new shelter and playground,” Steele notes.

“It helps that the folks in this area are very competitive when it comes to their sports,” Steele adds.

“We have a strong organizational base with respect to our Park system,” Steele elaborates. “Each year our facilities are used by the Youth Sports Association, the Murray-Calloway County Soccer Association, the Boy/Girl Scouts, the YMCA, the 4-H Club, the Rotary Club, the local public schools.”

Additionally, Murray State University routinely uses the baseball complex for intramurals and the Red Cross hosts several events each year at the Olympic-size pool located on the Park grounds.

“Each year we also have a number of requests to reserve our facilities for events such as family reunions,” Steele says. “And the BMX track also attracts a variety of people from the surrounding area.”

In addition to these improvements, Steele indicates that a recent tree grant has allowed them to plant 101 trees throughout the Park facilities.

“The tree program has definitely made a noticeable impact on the natural beauty of the Park,” Steele observes.

As for the future of the Murray-Calloway County Park, Steele is optimistic that things will just continue to get better.

“One of the things I want to see us develop is a community center,” Steele explains. “We have a need for this kind of multipurpose building.”

“When you live in a community that supports its Park system as much as ours does, there really is no limit to what you can do,” Steele concludes.