TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The six year mark of the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak is fast approaching. A huge tornado snaked from the sky, claiming 50 lives in Tuscaloosa alone and carved a scar of destruction across Tuscaloosa County. In the years since, the storm battered city has worked to rebuild bigger and better than before.
“It’s a day that we’ll never forget for sure,” said Josh Jones.
Nearly six years to the date.
“I was kind of scared. I thought the house might get blown over.”
A tornado moved right through Tuscaloosa. Josh Jones said they live about eight miles from Harmon Park.
“I do remember driving or getting close to the devastation the days after the tornado and of course you couldn’t recognize anything and it was very, very bad,” said Jones.
Gary Minor, Executive Director of the Recreation Authority said in the rebuilding process, they wanted to make the park special. And with that, a lot of time was needed.
“Some of the things before it could really take off took time. It took a couple of years to get through the administrative work and then we start to get donations,” said Minor.
He said more funding started pouring in. With such great support from the community, it was hard to interrupt.
“We didn’t want to go ahead and design something and be through with it if the community was interested in having something greater,” said Minor.
Although it took this park longer to recover. Parents say they are more than happy with the results.
“I’m very impressed with what they’ve done,” said Jones.
The playground features a large stainless steel slide, roller bars, a zip line playground and much more. The complete “wow” package for children across Tuscaloosa.
by Amber Grigley
Friday, April 7th 2017
