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E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park

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(Redirected from E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park) State park in Kentucky, United States

E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park
A walking path in E.P. Sawyer State Park
E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park is located in KentuckyE. P. "Tom" Sawyer State ParkLocation in KentuckyShow map of KentuckyE. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park is located in the United StatesE. P. "Tom" Sawyer State ParkLocation in United StatesShow map of the United States
TypeKentucky state park
LocationLouisville, Kentucky
Coordinates38°16′39″N 85°33′31″W / 38.27750°N 85.55861°W / 38.27750; -85.55861
Area550 acres (220 ha)
Elevation679 feet (207 m)
Opened1974
Operated byKentucky Department of Parks
OpenYear-round
WebsiteOfficial website

E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park is a 550-acre (220 ha) Kentucky state park located in the Freys Hill area of Louisville, Kentucky, on former land of Kentucky's old Central State Hospital. When opened in 1974, it was named in honor of Republican Jefferson County Judge/Executive Erbon Powers "Tom" Sawyer (18 November 1915 - 23 September 1969), who was killed five years before in a car accident on Louisville's Interstate 64 in 1969 at age 53 while still in office. Judge Sawyer was the father of journalist / television news anchor Diane Sawyer (born 1945, at CBS News and later ABC News).

Activities and amenities

The park's amenities include an activities center with a gymnasium that has indoor courts for badminton, basketball, and volleyball as well as an Olympic-sized swimming pool and weight room. The park also has 12 tennis courts (which used to be lighted but the lights have been removed), 14 soccer fields, 3 lighted softball fields, a mile-long fitness trail, a 1¼ mile nature trail, a permanent BMX track, a model aircraft airfield, a dog park, playgrounds, and picnic facilities. The park is also the site of the Louisville Astronomical Society's "Urban Astronomy Center."

In the news

Three decades after E.P.. Tom Sawyer State Park opened in 1974, then in 2004, Louisville City officials suggested that Otter Creek Park, a 2,600-acre (1,100 ha) city-operated park lying outside of Louisville's city limits, become a state park in an exchange for E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park becoming a city park. Six years later finally in 2010, the state took over the city's Otter Creek Park in a separate deal and it reopened the following year in 2011 after renovations and improvements as an outdoor recreation area operated by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

  • E.P. Sawyer's main lawn E.P. Sawyer's main lawn
  • Soccer fields at E.P. Sawyer Soccer fields at E.P. Sawyer

See also

Further reading

References

  1. "E P Tom Sawyer State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park". Kentucky Department of Parks. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  3. "Around the Nation: Kentucky: Louisville". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. April 26, 2004. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  4. "Otter Creek Park to Reopen in 2011" (Press release). Louisville Metro Government. June 16, 2010. Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
Protected areas of Kentucky
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Parks in the Louisville metropolitan area
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