"This is just the beginning of what we hope we can do," Mayor Brian Baine said at last November's ribbon cutting for the new playground at Kiwanis Field, according to Yellowhammer News. "Some pickleball courts, possibly a splash pad later."
A year later, the first item on that list has a contract. The second is still the word "possibly." That gap explains how the grounds beside the Wills Valley Recreation Center on Godfrey Avenue are coming together. One drawing shows the whole park, and the pieces get built in the order the money comes in.
The Playground Was Paid For by a Group Effort
The playground opened with a ribbon cutting on a Tuesday morning in early November 2025. City officials, Kiwanis Club members and volunteers gathered at Kiwanis Field, right beside the Wills Valley Recreation Center. Three partners were behind it: the City of Fort Payne, the Kiwanis Club, and GameTime, which Yellowhammer News described as a local playground equipment manufacturer. Together they raised about $130,000 and added donations and volunteer hours on top of that.
The equipment has multiple slides, bridges, ramps, climbing walls, ladders and climbing nets. Kiwanis Club President Brandon McBride thanked the Fort Payne High School Key Club, whose students came out to spread mulch and get the ground ready. GameTime President S. Spencer Cheak told Yellowhammer News it was "a full team effort." He credited the Kiwanis Club with driving it, along with the city and other local businesses.
The playground came first because the money for it came first. The partners raised it before anything was installed. According to the people behind the project, the playground is phase one of a larger plan that adds a walking trail and a dog park, with a total investment of about $600,000 once everything is finished. That makes the playground's $130,000 a little over a fifth of the full price.
One Drawing, Many Pieces
The full plan goes back to a concept drawing presented to the city council at a July 23 work session. The Times-Journal reported that Playcore/GameTime and the Kiwanis Club were proposing to grow the area around the Kiwanis Pavilion and the basketball courts next to the recreation center. Kiwanis President at the time Chuck Chitwood had presented the drawing to the club, and Mayor Baine shared it on social media.
Baine said the work would happen in phases "as the Kiwanis Club and the city are able to make it happen." He said he and Fort Payne Parks and Recreation Director Brant Middlebrooks had worked with the Kiwanis Club on the plan for about a year.
Here is how each piece of that drawing stands heading into mid-November 2026:
| Piece on the concept drawing | Where it stands |
|---|---|
| Playground | Ribbon cutting in November 2025 |
| Four pickleball courts and concrete walkways | $288,500 bid from Warner's Athletic accepted in August 2026 |
| Lights for the pickleball courts | $138,500 split off from the bid, to be pursued later |
| Walking path around the whole site | Part of the roughly $600,000 overall plan |
| Dog park | Part of the roughly $600,000 overall plan |
| Splash pad | Called a "possibly" by the mayor in November 2025 |
| Multipurpose field for soccer or flag football | Shown on the concept drawing |
| Volleyball area | Shown on the concept drawing |
On the drawing, the walking path borders everything else. It's the piece that ties the field, courts, dog park and playground into one park, so it covers the most ground and likely takes the most money to finish.
What the August Vote Shows About the Order of Things
The courts took their biggest step at the Fort Payne City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 4, 2026. The city received two bids to build four pickleball courts and the concrete walkways to reach them. The low bid came from Warner's Athletic.
Warner's Athletic's total came to $427,000, but that figure included court lighting. The city hadn't budgeted for lights when it put the project out to bid. So the council split off the $138,500 lighting portion and accepted the remaining $288,500, according to the Times-Journal. The council also said it would pursue lights at the courts in the future. The vote passed without opposition.
That decision follows the same rule that put the playground first. When a piece is paid for, it gets built. When it isn't, it gets set aside with a promise to come back to it. The lights were almost a third of the original bid, so the council kept the part it could fund and moved ahead. Courts built without lights are limited to daylight play until the lighting is funded and installed. With shorter days, that limit matters more in winter.
At the same meeting, Council President Todd Simpson said the courts would be a great addition to the city and praised the Kiwanis Club for its contribution to the work next to the rec center. The same partnership that raised the playground money is still part of the project.
The city's overall budget is the other half of the picture. Fort Payne's FY2027 budget projects General Fund revenues of $30,352,600 against expenses of $29,987,833, an estimated surplus of nearly $365,000. The Times-Journal noted that it's the first time in four years the general fund is projected to finish in the black. Among the capital requests the paper mentioned for the year were police monitors, flatbed trucks for public works, and a fence repair at the sanitation department's recycling center. The lights, trail, dog park and splash pad will each need their own decision, made the same way the courts were.
In the Meantime, the Building Next Door Covers Winter
For the next few cold months, much of the activity on this site moves indoors. The Wills Valley Recreation Center at 4220 Godfrey Avenue N.E. is the main building the new park is growing around. The city's facility page lists:
- Two full-size gym courts for basketball or volleyball
- An indoor walking track measuring one-tenth of a mile
- Two racquetball courts
- Weight and cardio equipment
- Locker rooms with showers, plus steam rooms and saunas
- Classes including aerobics, yoga, Tae Kwon Do and spinning
The posted hours are Monday through Thursday 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Class schedules are kept at the control desk, not online.
The listed annual memberships run $312 single, $360 couple and $408 family. Students and seniors each pay $96, a senior couple pays $144, and a senior membership for the walking track only is $24 a year. A guest day pass is $5, plus a one-time $5 guest ID. New members pay a $10 enrollment fee once. At those rates, a senior pays less than a third of the single rate, and a year of track-only access costs about the same as five guest visits. The posted rates and hours date back a few years, so call the front desk at (256) 844-6571 to confirm them before signing up. The same number is the one to call about the new courts outside.
For pickleball players who want indoor open play this winter, Topspin Pickleball Club at 208 Scott Ave North in Rainsville posts reservations, paid open-play sessions and beginner instruction on its live calendar.
The city pool at 500 Rucker St. N.E. is a separate, seasonal facility, and its warm-weather schedule doesn't cover November.
Kiwanis Field's next piece will come when the money for it does, just like the playground, which was paid for before it went in, and the courts, which went ahead without the lights the budget couldn't cover yet. If you're thinking about how close you'd like to live to Godfrey Avenue as the rest of this park takes shape, Valley Real Estate Co. would be glad to talk through the streets nearby and what makes each one a good fit. Let's Make Your Move.
