Milton to reopen long-closed park

One of the renovated trains at Providence Park in Milton, to be reopened to the public Saturday after a 12-year hiatus. CITY OF MILTON

One of the renovated trains at Providence Park in Milton, to be reopened to the public Saturday after a 12-year hiatus. CITY OF MILTON

A former Fulton County park closed for the last 12 years will reopen to the public this weekend after an extensive clean-up and refurbishment by the city of Milton.

Providence Park, a 42-acre passive park off of Providence Road east of unincorporated Crabapple, was closed by Fulton in 2004 and purchased by Milton in June 2015. The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony to reopen the park at 9 a.m. Saturday at the park’s front entrance gate on Providence Park Drive.

To get the park ready, officials said, the Milton Parks and Recreation Department and Public Works staff removed debris from buildings and land and asbestos from two buildings, relocated a large honey bee nest, repaired the fencing around a former rock quarry, and installed new fencing behind the lodge and in front of a stone wall.

Also, trails have been renovated, park benches replaced, unsafe trees removed, a maintenance building demolished, engineering studies conducted of a dock and bridges, and two bridges repaired.