CATLETTSBURG — A collaborative community effort is under way to renovate one of the Gate City’s most beloved parks.

A contingency of volunteers, city workers, inmates, artists and residents has pooled its resources and is in the midst of overhauling Oakland Avenue Park.

Work began on renovations at the site late last month, but volunteers under the leadership of the Catlettsburg Park Board and Catlettsburg Community Development Club have been active behind the scenes for more than a year preparing to upgrade the dilapidated facility.

“Everything is coming together,” said Catlettsburg City Councilman Randall Peterman, who also is a park board member and has been spearheading the work for the past few weeks.

“It’s really going to be nice when we get done,” said Catlettsburg Community Development Club member Ann Bryan. “We’re amazed. It’s been a community project,” she added.

Bryan and Peterman said the goal is to restore the park to its original state with some modern upgrades. Once this project is completed the board will begin planning to renovate the remaining city parks, they said.

Peterman said he expects all major work to be done at Oakland Avenue Park within the next three weeks.

Paving work was being completed at the park last week and volunteers were planning to set the basketball goals some time this week. A new fence will be installed around the basketball court and new park benches will also be added along with playground equipment and new sidewalks.

Three custom wrought iron gates that Ronald Bryan built and painted in his garage also will be installed within the next few weeks. Material for the gates was donated by Riggs Machine Shop in Ashland.

Wrought iron fencing eventually also will encircle the park, but will not be completed immediately, Peterman said.

Although some materials have been donated, the City of Catlettsburg is paying for part of the paving work and private donations are being used to purchase playground equipment and some other items.

Most of the labor has been donated, coming from a variety of sources. Peterman donated a week of his vacation time, along with Bryan, to work on the park.

Larry Slone, owner of Slone Construction, donated his time and that of three of his employees, used numerous pieces of his machinery to remove the former basketball court, and prepared the site for paving last month. Slone declined to be interviewed.

Inmates and guards from the Boyd County Detention Center also worked to remove the old equipment and install new swings and the Catlettsburg Road Department also assisted in hauling away removed material.

The makeover also will include another new mural to be painted by artists Denise Spaulding, Gary Preston and Melanie Osborne. The trio recently painted another mural depicting the lock and dam and a paddle wheel boat with passengers. The new mural will depict the Highlands Dairy Farm.

Preston is also in the midst of creating a sculpted fountain of Catlettsburg’s famous catfish, Scrap Iron Jack. The fountain will be installed in the center of the park and may include recovered pieces of the original dam that once was located behind the park’s floodwall, he said.

Although the artists will receive compensation for their work, Preston said the trio genuinely enjoys working on projects in Catlettsburg. “This is really a great place to work. We get so much community support. Last year, on Sundays, we would get all kinds of people coming by to see what we were doing. Everybody is really enthused there and that makes it nice to work. We really enjoy working down there,” he said.

“Parks are the life of your city,” added former Catlettsburg Mayor and Building Inspector Gary Hunley, who now works for the Boyd County Detention Center. “If you don’t have the community behind you, the citizens, you might not as well do it,” Hunley added. “It makes us all one family — the whole city.”

CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.