BY MALLORIE MCCOY
LAFAYETTE SUN
VALLEY — After five years in the making, the grand opening of the new Shawmut Playground and Dog Park located at 2300 12th Ave. in Valley, was held on Saturday, March 15. City of Valley representatives, along with Valley’s Parks and Recreation Director, Laurie Blount, welcomed visitors to the park at its ceremonial ribbon cutting.
Following her family’s move from Paducah, Kentucky to Valley, Alabama 15 years ago, Blount noticed a need for a playground in the community.
“The children of Valley needed a cool playground,” said Blount.
In early 2019, Blount wrote a grant proposal for the Shawmut project prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Then the world went upside down, and we had to basically start over,” Blount said. “The people that we were getting the grant from moved to another department. So, we basically had to rewrite the whole grant, and it just took a minute.”
Since then, Blount has worked to ensure this outdoor space came to life. After receiving the long-awaited grant from East Alabama Regional Planning and Development, construction broke ground in February 2025 and finished near the beginning of March — just in time for Spring and Summer.
The playground area includes something for all age groups of children and contains parts that are accessibility friendly. Blount said her main objective for the project was to provide the community with a place the entire family could enjoy.
“If you could come on a Saturday and see how many kids are playing on it, that was my goal,” Blount said. “Just to have a safe place for the kids to come play and this park is so pretty.”
The dog park area consists of two fenced spaces, one for small dogs and the other for large dogs. Inside, dog owners have access to bench seating and disposable bags to clean up after their pets.
Also, two picnic tables along with trash bins are set up for park visitors to utilize. Birthday parties or other celebrations can be held at the park without reserving. Blount said it operates on a first come, first serve basis.
“We would just like people to make sure their trash is in the trash can,” Blount said. “If they have a birthday party and they have big boxes that they take those home.”
In the future, there are intentions to build a pavilion near the park for families to host large gatherings and group picnics.
“It was a good citywide community effort,” said Blount.
