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Danville’s Michael M. Smith Park is currently closed as the first phase of improvements to the park have begun. The first upgrades will include a new playground and splash pad. The park is expected to reopen in June.

“It is on a bigger scale than we just finished at the Lexington Avenue Water Education Park,” said Danville-Boyle County Parks and Recreation Executive Director Tommy Barton. “We will have a lot more work picking up with concrete going in and things like that.”

The renovations include bringing back an iconic stone wall that was formerly in the park.

“There used to be a rock wall that people used to hang out on all the time,” Barton said. “We wanted to recreate that so that is the rock wall we are building there.”

Future phases of improvements to the park will include more parking, and the construction of a picnic shelter. Many more improvements are to come for several parks throughout Danville. Another new playground is currently being installed at Cowan Street Park, but it is not ready for use yet.

“It was part of the 10-year plan, and now that we are out of Covid we want to get back on that plan,” Barton said. “We saw a disparity, and the parks on the southside need to be taken care of as well as the parks on the northside.

He continued, “We are trying to develop and modernize them. We want them to get back to use, the more people that use them the safer they are. They will be a community upgrade and that is what we are all about. I’m pretty new here so I came in running to take things in my direction. I wanted to get things moving quicker and have constant upgrades.”

For more information about the construction at Michael M Smith Park, contact the Danville-Boyle County Parks and Recreation at 859-238-1233.