WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Jessica Kistler drove all the way from Virginia to see Tanner Park reopened.
It's named for her uncle, Jesse Tanner Jr., a Houston County deputy killed in the line of duty over 30 years ago.
She says, "That date, September 1, 1978, changed my family's lives forever."
A year later, the park was established with baseball fields and was dedicated to Tanner.
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Kistler recalls, "One of my grandmother's favorite stories for sure was that he wanted to grow up and have a position where he could wake up every morning and say, 'Yes, Mr. President.'"
She spent her summers in Warner Robins with her grandmother. "When I was a child, we'd come to Tanner Park and have lunch picnics and we'd go out to the base and spend time out there."
Warner Robins Parks and Recreation began construction on the $3.5 million park last March. Parks director Jarred Reneau says the move was necessary to make it easier for families.
"Throughout the city, our baseball, football has been all over the place. From a logistics standpoint, moms, dads, granddads, and if you have multiple kids, you have to run them all across the city. We thought the vision would be better to have everything in one spot, and so this is the perfect spot to have our football fields," he says.
Reneau grew up playing baseball at Tanner Park himself. His mother, Janet, was at the original park dedication back in 1979, and says the hype was all baseball back then.
"Baseball, everybody loved it, everyone was excited. It was a new park, and it just brought everyone together," she says.
With the warmer weather approaching, this park is opening just in time.