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Progress made on cleanup efforts

TRYON—The Town of Tryon is making significant progress in restoring Harmon Field, with plans to partially reopen the park next week. 

As the town prepares for the reopening, officials are urging the public to adhere to specified boundaries and only utilize designated areas, including the oval track, which will now be open to dogs, the dog park, baseball field, open-air gym, and tennis courts.

The town has retained Servpro Clean Restoration to clean and restore key park facilities, including the cabin, ballfield restrooms, field house restrooms, and concession stand. Restoration work commenced earlier this week.

Brad Gordon, Tryon Parks Superintendent, expressed the town’s dedication to reopening Harmon Field.  

“We want the town and everyone to know we’ve been working hard to reopen Harmon Field,” said Gordon. “We had hoped to do it this week, but we wanted to give Servpro a chance to get at least one of the bathrooms ready.” 

Once finalized, the partial reopening will encompass the dog park, baseball field, oval walking track, tennis courts, restrooms, and an open-air gym.

Gordon also wanted citizens who volunteered to participate in cleanup efforts to know that they would be contacted once the mud and dirt were removed and the next cleanup stage began. 

In addition to the restoration efforts, the Tryon Board of Commissioners is set to deliberate on a Resolution Authorizing the Acceptance of Donations for Harmon Field at their meeting on Tuesday, October 15. The board will consider the approval of Project Ordinances to cover all storm costs for the Water and Sewer System and General Fund, including Harmon Field, to facilitate the reimbursement of storm costs.

The town has been actively seeking financial assistance for Harmon Field, engaging with its insurance carrier and FEMA. An insurance adjuster is scheduled to visit the site during the week of October 21 to assess damages. The town must secure funding from the insurance carrier before seeking FEMA assistance. 

A comprehensive “Harmon Field Damage Assessment from Tropical Storm Helene” notebook, complete with visual documentation and repair quotes for each affected park area, has been prepared.

Town officials have been actively participating in daily emergency briefings conducted by the County and FEMA to stay abreast of the latest developments. The efforts of the Harmon Field Board of Supervisors have also been acknowledged to get the park back open, with their recent meeting being instrumental in providing support and direction for the restoration initiatives.