The Kanawha County Parks Board was basking in the glory of last week’s Coonskin Park bridge opening as they met Wednesday.
“People were chomping at the bits to cross that bridge,” said Jeff Hutchinson, county parks director. “If we had waited one or two more weeks, they might have lynched me.”
With the new bridge completed, the board turned to the next big event for Coonskin Park: The Lights of Coonskin holiday light display. Because the board is behind schedule, there’s a lack of power capabilities on the new bridge, which will cause a dark spot in the display.
“We’re probably not going to have any light on the bridge for Christmas time,” Hutchinson said.
The committee also plans to give attention and money to the Big Bend Golf Course in Tornado, now that they’ve finished putting down new sod on the Coonskin Golf Course. The Coonskin Foundation hopes to put up a steel roof to cover areas of the driving range at the Francis P. Jordon Golf Learning Center, but they’re waiting until the spring to try and find a lower price.
Paving the roads inside Coonskin Park cost the Board $660,386.25. They expect to get some of that money back from the state Division of Highways and have filed a formal request for the division to fulfill its agreement.