The City of Forest has made it a priority to bring new and exciting draws to the downtown area. One of the attractions that city officials and private partners have been working hard on is the Sights and Sounds Park located on the corner of S. Main Street and Front Street in downtown Forest.
It can be a challenge for small towns like Forest to create attractions that not only help the look and development of the city but offers the opportunity to be enjoyed by the citizens. City officials believe they have succeeded in doing so with the Sights and Sounds Park and believe it will be a gem of downtown Forest for many years to come.
The city and its partners have been working for over a year on the development of the idea and bringing the decided upon vision to reality. The park is not yet completed as there are still some aesthetics and lighting to be added that will ultimately complete the project. Even with the park not quite finished the city is already proud of the park that has done wonders in helping in the beautification of the downtown area.
Forest Mayor Nancy Chambers says that this project has been a work in progress and would not have been possible without everyone involved working together to see this project through. “We’ve been working on the overall vision and design for the park for a year,” said Mayor Chambers. “I believe the project has come together great and when the park is finished it will be a great addition to the city.”
“It’s challenging for small towns to create and have an attraction that is unique and beneficial to the city,” Chambers explains. “We worked really hard to create an attraction to make Forest unique and it has been a process to mesh all the visions together and work towards a finished product and now to see the almost finished product is a wonderful site.”
The larger than life wind chimes that are scattered throughout the park are the creation of Bill Blossom and Billy Webb. In creating the beautiful windchimes and displays they used recycled materials from oxygen tanks and fire extinguishers and many more metal materials. Each piece is a unique one-of-a-kind work of kinetic art. They attention to detail of each windchime is amazing and well worth taking the time to stop and get a closer look.
Taking the vision and plans for the park from the drawing table and bringing it to fruition took the work of several important partners, all of which played vital roles in the creation of the park. The City of Forest worked closely with Forest Community Arts, Walmart, and Community Bank to bring the park to life and make it a reality. “The success of this project can be placed with each of the partners the city had working together to being this projection from vision to reality,” says Mayor Chambers. “It is the work and monetary support from our partners working in conjunction with the city that made this all possible.”
Although the park is not fully completed there is already plenty to enjoy, and the park has already become a focal point of the downtown area and will provide beautiful “sights and sounds” in Forest for a long time to come.
