Watch now: State grant to help Bays Mountain Park with post-Helene repairs

KINGSPORT — Hundreds of downed trees littered Bays Mountain Park following the severe weather brought by Hurricane Helene.A tree punctured the roof of the Nature Center, damaged the balcony and led to a 14-day cleanup effort by park staff and volunteers. But with the help of a $150,000 grant to the park from the Tennessee State Museum, Bays Mountain Park and Planetarium will be able to restore the areas most heavily impacted.Megan Krager, the park's manager, shared a little bit about what spaces took a hit following the storm."We also had some damage that took place to some of our habitats — our wolf habitat in particular — we had a couple of trees that came down on some of their habitat," Krager said. "Also, we had some damage that took place to our caretaker roof. So we have been in the process of replacing or updating or fixing some of those areas within the park."She said making necessary storm-related repairs will help with the park's overall improvement plan already underway."We wanted to make improvements starting with the Nature Center and then migrate out to the animal habitats," Krager said. "So it just made sense to make sure that we had funding in place to make sure that we have the funding for the repairs that are needed for that task."How it will be usedKrager said in a news release from the city that funding from the Capital Maintenance and Improvement Grant will be a "major step" in restoring the Nature Center for future visitors.Krager said the funds will be used to cover the following expenses:• Tree removal costs ($8,250)• Patching the roof ($5,455)• Repairing the balcony ($12,560)The remaining $123,735 will be put towards a full roof replacement for the Nature Center, which is estimated to cost $263,440. Any leftover costs for the roof will be covered by the city, according to city spokesman Matthew Lane.Park staff plan to work with architects from CainRashWest to finalize construction documents for the roof replacement and send the project out to bid. Kingsport has until July 1, 2026, to complete the project, according to the release.While Krager said repairs could potentially affect the hours of operation for the Nature Center, she said it would be a few months before that impact occurred.About the grantThe state announced recipients for the grant on Feb. 3. Seven organizations or sites across Northeast Tennessee received a total funding amount of $636,075, according to the latest press release.Here is a breakdown of places that received funding:• City of Kingsport (Sullivan County) — $150,000• Lakeway Civil War Preservation Association (Hamblen County) — $73,376• Boones Creek Historical Trust (Washington County) — $150,000• The Culture and Preservation Society of Del Rio (Cocke County) — $68,079• Tusculum University (Greene County) — $33,000• Friends of David Crockett Birthplace State Park (Greene County) — $135,880• Earnest Family Fort House (Greene County) — $25,740Capital Maintenance and Improvement Grant allocation for Hurricane Helene could fulfill request amounts ranging from $5,000 to $150,000. Eligible counties included Claiborne, Grainger, Hamblen, Hancock, Jefferson, Sevier, Cocke, Greene, Washington, Hawkins, Unicoi, Carter, Sullivan and Johnson.The first round of grantees were announced in November 2024, the release states.