Emanuel County scores big in state grants

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Emanuel County Commission officials have received notification that the County will receive state grant awards of more than 6 million dollars for three upcoming projects. County Administrator Guy Singletary in commenting on the news, expressed the excitement and satisfaction of a very pleased County Commission in learning of the award. “We were given the good news by Representative Butch Parrish and the Governor’s office just in the last few days.” Singletary added that the work in preparing the three grant applications began in late summer of last year. “These grant opportunities came about from Governor Kemp’s effort to focus on the issue of physical fitness in public health with an emphasis on family-oriented outdoor recreational activity. We applied for three projects, thinking we might get one. We never even imagined the possibility that we might get all three. The projects include a major renovation of the existing gymnasium at the County recreational complex, upgrades of a baseball and softball field with expansion of facilities, and the construction of a new 6 lane 75 x25 competition level swimming pool.”

There has not been a public swimming pool as part of the county recreation department in Emanuel County for the last 40 years. The Administrator outlined an ambitious projected schedule for the projects that hits the ground running. “We expect to start the wheels turning within 30 days with planning and continuing design and expect a projected bid date of early 2024. These projects will provide the potential to add great new features and improvements to our county recreation programs that will benefit young and old. I think this is probably one of the largest grant awards we have ever received. It is a fantastic opportunity for our county, and we feel very fortunate that we were successful in receiving these grants.” The Blade will bring more details on this project in future issues.