On Thursday, November 14, the Downtown Macon Community Association celebrated the opening of the Downtown Macon Music Sculpture Park located in Turpin Park on Third Street. In 2018, the Downtown Macon Community Association won a grant from the Downtown Challenge Fund of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to install a sculptural music park. Turpin Park is now the home to colorful play pieces like drums and xylophones that enhance the public park and make it more welcoming for all generations to enjoy.
“We wrote a grant for the Downtown Macon Music Sculpture Park with the goal of creating a multi-generational space for all to enjoy,” said Scott Mitchell, chair of the Downtown Macon Community Association. “I believe that nothing brings us together like music.”
The Downtown Macon Community Association partnered with Macon-Bibb County’s Parks and Beautification Department to install the play equipment. In addition to installing the equipment, Parks and Beautification staff planted shrubbery and improved landscaping around the play equipment.
“This project was truly a team effort between DMCA, Parks and Beautification, and Public Works,” said Michael Glisson, director of Macon-Bibb Parks and Beautification. “The Downtown Macon Music Sculpture Park is a fun and unique addition to our downtown artwork collection.”
The Downtown Macon Music Sculpture Park was inspired by the Macon Action Plan’s recommendations to improve public spaces in the urban core and to provide permanent infrastructure for family-friendly programming. This park offers an interactive, multi-generational play space for families visiting Downtown Macon and builds on a previous Downtown Challenge Grant the Downtown Macon Community Association won to install a Downtown Sculpture Walk.
“The board and staff of the Community Foundation are excited to partner with Scott, the Downtown Macon Community Association, as well as Parks and Beautification to bring this new idea to life,” said Darius Maynard, Program Officer of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. “The Downtown Challenge existed to engage ordinary people that had extraordinary ideas and to challenge them to use available resources to bring that idea to Downtown Macon. This new music park will continue to build upon the progress that we’ve achieved over the last couple of years with the Downtown Challenge by improving an already existing public space and making more inclusive and attractive to all who visit.”
About Downtown Macon Community Association
The Downtown Macon Community Association is downtown’s neighborhood watch group and merchants association. Neighbors and business owners meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 9am at NewTown Macon, 555 Poplar Street, to share information and build community.