Smith River Sports Complex grateful for Henry County Parks and Recreation partnership

HENRY COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - The Smith River Sports Complex and Henry County Parks and Recreation are continuing to work together to make improvements to the facility.

This summer, the two organizations partnered to increase the complex’s budget and allow operations to continue without much change. So far, the additional funding and manpower have allowed them to improve the landscaping, add more parking, and upgrade the fields.

“It’s been fantastic having the county on board with us to help with the facility,” said Houston Stutz, Director of the Smith River Sports Complex. “Parks and Recs really kind of rejuvenated and brought some energy into the facility by helping us with funding our fields. They’ve looked the best that they’ve looked at the end of the year in quite some time.”

The merge did not affect the current staff but allowed for the recruitment of additional employees.

“We’ve got another full time maintenance person. We’ve only had one full time maintenance person taking care of this facility since I’ve been here in 2015. So, now having another set of hands to help on a regular basis has been fantastic,” added Stutz.

A goal they hope to score in the future is additional seating for larger events and a fieldhouse with locker rooms to try and attract college and state high school tournaments.

“Thousands of people come in from out of town for tournaments and events going on in the weekends,” said Roger Adams, Director of Henry County Parks and Recreation. “It’s just a great opportunity to partner together and provide a service for our community, but also to attract visitors to our community and increase tourism opportunities here.”

The next big event they will be hosting is the Piedmont Shootout fundraiser for the local soccer club on November 18 and 19.

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