COLUMBIA − Douglass Park on North Providence Road will have an updated look in the future. 

Columbia City Council voted in February to accept a $50,000 donation from the Veterans United Foundation to renovate the basketball courts at the downtown park. 

Columbia Parks and Recreation says the city is adding $225,000 in voter-approved capital improvement park sales tax dollars. 

One city official told KOMU 8 News that there will be community input opportunities toward the beginning of this summer.

“Usually we will have meetings in the evenings, that way when folks are off work, they can stop by the park,” Parks and Recreation Director Gabe Huffington said. “If a citizen has a concern for another part of the park, or they want to talk to us about a different facet of what they need in the park, we’ll be there for that as well.” 

One resident believes these court renovations could help boost the profile of the park.

“It will make the community better, like, so people will actually trust this place to play here,” Neveah Jenkins said.

Douglass Park hosts popular community basketball events during the summer, such as the Moonlight Hoops tournament. 

A longtime Columbia basketball coach explained that new courts could bring a neighborhood closer together. 

“Well, Douglass [Park] is a special place downtown. There’s a need for that there,” Dean Berry, founder of Columbia Youth Basketball Association, said. “I think any renovations to any kind of athletics stuff is beneficial to the community.” 

Parks and Recreation told KOMU 8 they expect the project to get started by October and finish sometime next spring.