FORT VALLEY, Ga. — South Peach Park may look like any other park, but driving or walking in and out of it is what makes it unusual.
"It's just not very aesthetically appealing to have to drive through a cemetery to get to a recreation area," says Peach County engineer Paul Schwindler.
He says the plan for a new entrance has been in works for years, and in 2017, SPLOST funding was approved.
"The original amount was about $90,000 -- that was with our public works department doing most of the work," said Schwindler.
With two years passing since the approval, the cost will now be higher and the plan is different. This plan includes building a road starting at Courtland Street and extending it to Murray Road where the park's sign is. It will still go through the cemetery, but there will be trees on both sides of the road as a buffer.
"The idea is that you won't know you're going through the cemetery, even though it's going to be on both sides of the road," Schwindler said.
This comes after years of complaints from both parents and the city, saying the cemetery gets dark at night and there's trash.
"Cars getting off track and actually damaging the cemetery. There's also been some issues in the past of pollution, people throwing stuff out in the cemetery -- I know the city's had some issues with that."
After eight years of working on the plan, Schwindler says he's ready for the next steps -- state approval and bidding. "From that point, it would go out to bid, and then we'll evaluate those bids and the board will hopefully award that bid to a general contractor."
The road would pass through public housing in Fort Valley and the cemetery, which is also city-owned.
Peach County leaders also say they're looking to improve the basketball courts at South Peach Park and fix the parking lot at North Peach Park across town in Byron.