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Jake Valdez works on the amphitheater addition Monday morning at the Meridian Park. Valdez works for by Breaking New Ground Construction Services who did the construction for the stones of the amphitheater. -
Jack Cameron and Ron Rieke, local volunteers working on the amphitheater addition, talk about the project Monday morning at the Meridian Park.
There are few parks that can bring people from all parts of the county’s communities together before they ever open.
But the new amphitheater addition to the Meridian Park has been such a project.
“It was a whole process in itself just to start because it was on county land that had to be gifted to the city,” said Jack Cameron, a Bosque County rancher from Walnut Springs area, but heads the amphitheater project for the local parks board.
“We’ve had people from all over help work on this project. We need even more to help lay the grass July 7.”
Cameron first heard about the new jail being built several years ago and how there were not many plans for the old jail.
“We thought how great it would be to have an amphitheater as an extension to the park,” Cameron said.
“This is a project people of all ages are going to benefit from year from now. It’s not like a skate park or a playground. All ages are going to be able to enjoy this.”
This biggest difficulty for the project came when tearing down the old jail, done mostly by Gregg Powers of Valley Mills who did it as a volunteer.
The company building the amphitheater through volunteer donations is Breaking New Ground Construction Services based out of Granberry.
There are additional plans that have been discussed for additions for the park in the surrounding areas such as a splash pad, frisbee golf course and a pathway along the river and under the bridge to connect the two parks.
Cameron said he has ideas for a name for the addition and a band for the first concert event planned in the late-summer or fall, but like many future planned events, they are still very much pending.
Final additions to the amphitheater will take place July 7 with the placement of the grass around the amphitheater. Volunteers very much welcome.