The City of Spencer has received a $26,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to make additions to the city park.
Spencer Mayor Alisa Farmer said the city will use the grant to install LED lighting along the walking trail and build a new rustic stage. Farmer said the city hopes the improvements will create a venue for festivals and events.
“We can have bands, individuals that want to play for events and things like that, just opening our area up for more ways of attracting folks into our community,” Farmer said.
Farmer said the only other venue near Spencer to host events is the county fairgrounds. Farmer said receiving the grant will further along the city’s tourism efforts.
“It’s really good,” Farmer said. “Making progress on focusing on tourism not only for the City of Spencer but for Van Buren County as well.”
The city will provide an estimated $1,300 as matching funds for the project. Farmer said receiving grant funds to boost tourism is crucial for a small city like Spencer.
“We have a limited budget that we have coming in, and so these upgrades that we can do, and the state provide us opportunities to apply for grant funds and things like that, offset using our already set aside funds,” Farmer said.
Farmer said the goal is to have the additions completed around the same time the park’s new playground equipment will be installed in April.