Field renovations to be completed by Aug. 1
The bleachers at the George Templin Memorial Park ballfield in Rocky Top, shown here during last year’s July 4 vintage-car show at the park, were demolished April 12, and will be replaced by a new 400-seat structure by Aug. 1, city officials said. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
All of the improvements are expected to be completed by Aug. 1, City Manager Mike Ellis told The Courier News at the council meeting.
Work began April 12 with the tear down of the existing bleachers, which Ellis said went surprisingly quickly.
“They barely touched the bleachers with the excavator and they fell,” he said. “They scheduled three days to tear them down, and it took only one day.”
First Place Finish, Inc., an Oak Ridge-based contractor, was the low bidder for the project, for which the city has received a state recreation grant of up to $566,000, which the city must match dollar-for-dollar.
The new bleachers will have about 400 seats, with the press box on top at the rear.
Also included in the project will be construction of a walking trail around the park, and installation of a new chain-link fence around the athletic field.
Ellis said earlier that the seating area and other facilities, including restrooms, at the ballfield needed upgrades that would make them compliant with standards mandated by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA requires most public facilities, as well as private facilities open to the public, to be made accessible to people with disabilities.
Users of the ballfield include Little League football, the Lake City Middle School football program, and some slow-pitch softball leagues, the city has said.
The $566,000 award came in 2025 from TDEC’s Local Parks and Recreation Fund. Rocky Top was among four area cities to receive grants from the fund, for a total of $1.27 million.
Mayor Kerry Templin said at the time that the city had two years to make use of the grant before it expires.
“It would be awesome to update the restrooms, too,” the mayor said. “The field itself is in great shape, and we already have the new LED lights.”
The ballfield already has a new scoreboard, as well, which was installed in 2024 at a cost of about $12,000. The City Council approved a $5,000 contribution to that expense. The rest came from other sources, including the Anderson County Board of Education and Anderson County Commission.
