Leadership Hoover team oversees renovation of Russet Woods Park

HOOVER, Ala. ( WIAT ) — An aging 1.3-acre park in Hoover has undergone a $250,000 facelift with the help of city and county funding.

Russet Woods Park is located in a subdivision that dates to the 1980s. A Leadership Hoover team decided to take on its renovations as their passion project.

“We were able to deal with drainage and fill that in and really cut back some of the growth so you can now sit and enjoy some quiet time and overlook the lake,” Hoover Parks and Recreation director Erin Colbaugh said.

According to Colbaugh, the team secured $150,000 in funds with the help of Jefferson County Commissioner Jimmie Stephens. The city of Hoover also kicked in $100,000. Most of the money was spent on overcoming a major obstacle involving the park’s grounds: drainage.

“There was an ongoing drainage issue that was hard for people to enjoy coming out to the park and having fun when there were lots of standing water and drainage issues,” Colbaugh said.

Dead and dying trees were removed and sod was added, along with new parking spaces and park benches.

The effort to renovate the park was the project of the class of 2022 Leadership Hoover team, a group of volunteers who work with the city to take on various projects in the community. Team member Porsha Hicks spoke on why her team felt so strongly about overhauling the park.

“We wanted to create something that the neighborhood could rally around and grow from and not be left behind since Hoover is growing so fast,” Hicks said. “Hoover has a number of new developments, and we want to make sure we can keep up with the amenities in the older neighborhoods just like the newer neighborhoods.”

Tiffany Shults said she’s excited to have another park option nearby for her kids to play.

“It means a lot because it’s nice to switch it up with them to be able to say ‘Oh, we’ll go to the park with the little house’ because she likes to call it the Snow White house,” Shults said.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the renovated park will be held on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the park, located at 105 Top O’ Tree Lane.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.