T-Mobile Hometown Grant of $43,318 awarded to City of Russellville for playground equipment purchases and repairs at City Lake Park

The City of Russellville will soon get a $43,318 grant as one of the final 25 community recipients in the T-Mobile Hometown Grant program.

The $43,318 grant will be used to replace damaged playground equipment at City Lake Park, T-Mobile officials said.

T-Mobile representatives will present the grant to Mayor David Grissom at Russellville’s July 4thJam on Sloss Lake celebration this Saturday, July 4th, at 5:00 p.m.

City Lake Park, adjacent to Russellville High School, is in dire need of repairs and replacement of equipment, something raised by concerned parents to city officials earlier this year.

Parks and Recreation Director Donnie Flanagan, along with several employees, did a complete inspection of the equipment after social media posts described the condition of the equipment as ‘disgusting and unsafe.’

Flanagan told the FFP in March that all playgrounds maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department are inspected, but he was unaware of the extent of the deterioration until he went back in March.

“We’re aware of the situation and spent all day making it safe where hopefully no child could get hurt,” Flanagan said on March 3rd. “We closed off some of the equipment and removed some as well.”

Although owned by the City of Russellville, City Lake Park and all parks in Russellville are managed and maintained through Russellville City Schools, which took over operations of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department in 2019.

Russellville City Councilman Darren Woodruff, whose District 2 includes City Lake Park, contacted Flanagan after hearing about the situation with the playground at the park.

That resulted in the city ordering several pieces of new equipment and parts to repair existing equipment.

“We want all city facilities safe for kids and their families, so this is a wonderful grant from T-Mobile that directly addresses what was a major need in our city,” Woodruff said.

Russellville is one of the last towns in the country to receive a Hometown Grant before the program closes this summer.

The City of Russellville joins 16 other Alabama communities that have received T-Mobile Hometown Grants since 2021, bringing the state’s total investment to nearly $900,000 in local communities.

Statewide, that investment has reached communities from the Black Belt to the Tennessee Valley.

Nationally, the T-Mobile Hometown Grant program has put more than $22.8 million into 501 communities across 49 states since launch.