MACON, Ga. — Over two years after Macon-Bibb County signed off on renovations to the Carolyn Crayton park softball fields, they're behind schedule.
The county's parks and recreation director, Robert Walker, says it was only supposed to take 8-10 months. Mark Rostvold and his wife, Lynn noticed the work stop a few months ago, as the weeds took over.
"Started coming down to the park, hadn't come down here very often," Rostvold explained.
It was the perfect place for the Rostvolds to escape their house during the pandemic.
"Get out of the house, take the dog. I actually rode my bike when I was down here," he said.
Carolyn Crayton Park had wide open space for their 8-year-old border terrier, Miss Priss, to run around.
"Particularly if the grass is wet and she gets the zooms going on, she loves it," Rostvold laughed.
It wasn't long before their pandemic getaway became a construction zone.
"Kept on going and then in 2021, spring of 2021, we saw a lot of construction going on as they were putting in some new ball fields," Rostvold said.
They thought it was a great plan, but then came the delay and the overgrowth.
"It really looks bad. It borders on blight," Rostvold said.
Walker says it's because they had to move underground wiring. It set them back a bit.
"We had to relocate some underground utilities. And we are close to finishing up the relocation of those utilities," he explained.
Walker says he sees the overgrowth too, but it shouldn't take long to fix the issue.
"I don't think it'll take much time to clear things out. The contractor will come in with equipment ready to clear," he said.
Walker says they should be finished moving the electrical wires in the next few days, and after that, they'll take another swing at finishing the project.
He says he's not sure about the total cost of the project. They're waiting on more information from the contractor. Walker says they don't expect to be over budget.