Hays Farm Park gives South Huntsville a gathering place
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John Hays said the first steps for the park were taken 10 years ago. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Huntsville's newest park is open.
Why it matters: The 9-acre Park at Hays Farm will be a gathering space for South Huntsville like Big Spring Park is for downtown.
Catch up quick: Work on the $7.1 million park started last year, with Bailey-Harris Construction Co. building a winding sidewalk, gazebo, lagoon with water feature, fitness court and restroom pavilion over about 14 months.
- It's just down Haysland Road from the $2.4 million Hays Farm Sports Park and connects to Elgie's Walk greenway, part of a 15-mile greenway loop that includes Aldridge Creek and runs all the way to Ditto Landing.
- The Hays family, which donated the land, as well as the land for Grissom High School next door, was on hand to celebrate the ribbon cutting.
What they're saying: "It all comes back to our family values," John Hays told Axios Huntsville, naming education, quality of life and wildlife habitat.
- "This park is part of 500-acre park that's contiguous. It's got 65 acres of lakes, 10 miles of walking trail and two-thirds is set aside for wildlife–untouched."
- The windmill standing on the park was used to pump water to a nearby orchard when the area was still a working farm, he said ahead of the ribbon cutting.
Zoom out: The park is in the center of an area of South Huntsville that's growing rapidly with multiple large apartment complexes, housing developments and more.
- "Twenty years ago, this was cornfields, soybean fields and wasn't even in the city; it had to be annexed," District 3 Council Member Jennie Robinson told us. "
- Robinson noted that a parcel of land between the park and Haysland Road is set for more commercial development, with retail, restaurant and residential.
Zoom in: "South Huntsville has never really had a gathering space," said Robinson, who represents the area. "There's still lots of other opportunities for development along South Parkway, and we have seen the ripple effects of this project as others have begun investing."
The bottom line: "I see this as a linchpin," Hays said. "This is more than a 9-acre park, it's a major piece in the puzzle that creates the renaissance of all of South Huntsville."