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Community Corner

Fowler, Crown Jewel of Forsyth Parks, Now Open

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) called the new park "amazing" and added, "This will be a tremendous asset to Forsyth County."

“What a park!"

The greeting, delivered by Forsyth County Commission Chairman Brian Tam, was as good a way as any to welcome guests to the official opening of Fowler Park, the gleaming 85-acre crown jewel of parks that drew "oohs and aahs" from everyone who attended.

Even U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) called the park "simply amazing." Graves returned from Washington, D.C. this week to open a new district office in Gainesville and to visit what has to rank among the finest parks in north Georgia.

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"Think of the lives that will be changed through all the competitive sports that will be played and the courage testing that will go on here," Graves said. "This park will be a tremendous asset to Forsyth County."

I was a reporter 10 years ago when former Commissioner John Kieffer urged county officials to purchase the property for the park. He had a great vision of what this property could become. Not many of us agreed with him and he endured a tremendous amount of criticism at the time.

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But there was no criticism Friday. People were too busy shaking Kieffer's hand and congratulating him on turning his dream into a reality.

As one of those who heaped a fair portion of criticism on Kieffer, I asked him to reflect back.

"That's all water under the bridge," he said, beaming with pride. "It was worth it. This is a beautiful park."

Beautiful and unique.

In addition to an endless array of baseball, softball, football, soccer and lacrosse fields, there are lighted tennis courts, basketball courts, walking trails, a track, a massive and beautiful pavilion to host private events.

One of the many exciting features of Fowler Park is the incredible skate park where half a dozen skateboarders and bicyclists showed no interest in opening day political speeches at all. They were too busy defying gravity on bikes and skateboards as they sped down one side of a deep bowl-shaped concrete pad and up the other ending in an acrobatic jump that seemed to defy gravity.

Fowler Park is located on Carolene Way, off Hwy. 9 and Castleberry Rd. in the south Forsyth district represented by Commissioner Todd Levent.

Levent thanked everyone who worked on developing the park.

"This is another jewel and just one more reason for (Forsyth County) to brag about how great we are," Levent said. "This is simply the grandest park I have ever seen.

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