HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Hendersonville community has made remarkable progress since an EF2 tornado tore through the area last year, causing widespread damage to businesses, homes, and city parks.
For Andy Gilley, director of parks and recreation, restoring the parks has been deeply personal.
“This is home for me,” Gilley said.
The tornado left destruction in its wake, including areas Gilley considers vital to the community’s spirit and economy.
“We were concerned about all the businesses and people,” he said.
Drakes Creek Park, one of the city’s major parks, suffered significant damage but has since been restored.
“We’re standing on a field that right now is a year later repaired from the tornado,” Gilley said.
The park, a major economic driver, hosts countless events and tournaments each year.
“Sixty thousand people live in Hendersonville, and throughout the year, we know from data we collect there are over 700,000 people that just come in this park,” Gilley said.
All nine city parks experienced damage from the tornado or from flooding in May. Rebuilding efforts required extensive repairs, including new roofs, playgrounds, siding, bleachers and more.
“This is a whole new roof. A whole new siding on this press box building. A whole new playground we had to replace. A new set of bleachers there. Several roofs had to be replaced across all our parks,” Gilley said.
The restoration efforts were made possible by the hard work of city employees and volunteers who stepped up immediately after the storm.
“There was a tear in my eye when we finally got to play here. There’s a tear in my eye right now talking about it because it’s a special place to a lot of people,” Gilley shared emotionally.
Repairs to the parks totaled nearly $1 million, according to Gilley. Insurance covered a portion of the costs, while FEMA assistance helped cover the rest.
While Gilley hopes natural disasters are behind them but knows his community will always be tough as nails.
“Thank you to our community for all they do all the time for our parks,” he said.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at aaron.cantrell@newschannel5.com
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