MILTON — Alfred Brewton and Milton Mayor Wesley Meiss cut a ribbon Jan. 15 to rededicate Lucille Johnson Park on Mary Street. Other community members joined them.
The park has received renovations since 2016 and has a new sidewalk, fencing, a picnic pavilion, resurfaced children’s basketball court and renovated bathroom facilities.
"It was a long time coming and it’s here," Meiss said. "This project was community driven … People in the community wanted this done and it happened."
The community leader who continued to push for the park’s progress, according to Meiss, was Brewton.
"If it wasn’t for Al, this probably wouldn’t have happened…," Meiss said. "Al has a famous quote. ‘If you don’t have a seat at the table, all you’re going to get in life are the crumbs.’ He’s a man that fights for what he believes in and he believed in this park…"
"Over three and a half years ago, a few of us got started trying to get this park’s renovations done," Brewton said.
Through $10,000 from the city’s former Downtown Redevelopment Advisory Board and $50,000 from the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program, improvements came to fruition.
The park is named after Councilwoman Mary Ellen Johnson’s mother.
"On behalf of the Lucille Johnson family," Johnson said, "we thank you and I know my mama would be well pleased on this day."
The event doubled as a dedication of the Jose Waitman basketball court. From 1978 to 1982, Waitman lettered in basketball at Milton High School. He received a basketball scholarship to the University of South Alabama where he was a two-year starter from 1984 to 1986. Waitman played basketball with the Dutch Basketball League from 1987 to 2012, helping to win the European Championship in 1993. In 2016, Milton High inducted him into its athletic hall of fame.
"I just want to say to the mayor and city council men and women," Gaylord Waitman said, "we appreciate this. It will be an honor for the family…Jose grew up playing in this park.
"It will be great for him to be memorialized like this."
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: 'It was a long time coming'