Aberdeen’s historic Acker Park undergoing improvements

Acker Park will be the site of a popular music festival

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – A historic park in one Monroe County town is getting much needed improvements.

For decades, Acker Park was center stage in Aberdeen with its swimming pool and other attractions.

But after the pool closed the park was neglected until Aberdeen resident Dwight Stevens, who lives across the street, began having the park mowed regularly. He has also helped with much needed repairs.

Now, work is underway on stairs, the fountain has been repaired and the city installed a light pole, providing electricity, just in time for the upcoming “Bukka White Blues Festival”

For years it’s been held on the banks of the Tenn Tom Waterway.

“It was time to move it back to town, get it in the city limits and make it a little more accessible for everybody, this is part of our town, this is a place where anybody can come have lunch, there’s playground equipment for kids that has been restored, and it’s beautiful and it’s the highest point in Aberdeen,” said E.M. Walters, president of the Bukka White Blues Festival Committee.

Plans call for a permanent stage at the park.  The goal is to not only preserve part of Aberdeen’s history but also to create a space for community events in the future.

“Acker Park has been a park here in town since the early 1900s, and for us to still have it and it be a vital part of the community is very important.  We want to keep it going as long as we can and showcase the history of it as well as what we’re able to do now,” said Tina Robbins, executive director of the Aberdeen Visitor’s Bureau.

Work has started on the bathrooms and information center, and there are plans for a walking and biking trail, that will eventually connect to Aberdeen Main Street headquarters at the old depot.

The Bukka White Blues Festival takes place on October 15th and 16th.  For more information, go to bukkawhitebluesfestival.com