Westside park for Jacksonville youth reopens after $200,000 renovation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The newly refurbished Wesconnett Park was revealed Saturday morning at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

A number of nationwide and native companions such because the Jacksonville Jaguars, HabiJax, the Native Initiative Help Company of Jacksonville (LISC), Metropolis of Jacksonville representatives, and over 100 youth and their households celebrated the grandre-opening of the newly refurbished grass subject.

Westconnectt Park is residence to the Westside Wildcats and serves tons of of native youth by means of its soccer and cheer groups. The $200,000 renovations to the park included the grass subject, up to date lighting, scoreboard enhancements, a brand new playground and renovations to the concessions constructing.

“The Westside Wildcats league, like others who serve our neighborhood, is about a lot greater than sports activities – it is about shaping younger individuals’s character and future pursuits, instilling self-discipline, and serving to place them for lifelong success, regardless of their chosen path,” mentioned Dr. Irvin “PeDro” Cohen, government director of LISC Jacksonville. “These grants are a twin funding in each our youth and our metropolis’s leisure property, serving to enhance and protect them for future generations of youngsters.

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After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the youth obtained to go away the primary imprint on the inexperienced after they participated in a youth soccer camp hosted by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This venture was made doable when HabiJax was granted $100,000 by the Jaguars by means of the Nationwide Soccer League Basis Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Basis and the Native Initiatives Help Company, a information launch said. The Metropolis of Jacksonville supplied over $100,000 in matching funds to conduct the work. The grant is a part of $6 million in subject refurbishment awards allotted this yr.

“HabiJax has been thrilled to be part of this effort to refurbish the enjoying floor at Wesconnett Park,” HabiJax Chief Neighborhood Partnerships Officer Chris Folds mentioned. “As an affiliate that’s dedicated to neighborhood revitalization, it has been a pleasure to work with a few of our most long-running companions and supporters to get this achieved. We imagine everybody deserves a good place to reside AND play, and we’re pleased to see that dream realized for the Westside Wildcats.”