Bays Mountain Park receives $150,000 grant for park repairs

The City of Kingsport is pleased to announce Bays Mountain Park and Planetarium has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Tennessee State Museum.

This Capital Maintenance and Improvement Grant will be used to help the park recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Helene and ensure the Nature Center remains a premier educational and natural destination for the Tri-Cities region.

“This funding is a major step in restoring the Nature Center and ensuring it continues to serve visitors for years to come,” said Park Manager Megan Krager. “We’re thrilled to have been awarded these funds, and we would like to thank the Tennessee State Museum for its consideration.”

Bays Mountain Park suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Helene, forcing the park to close for more than a week. While staff and volunteers have made significant progress in making repairs, there is still additional work to be done.

Specifically, the Nature Center suffered significant damage, including:

• Damage from fallen trees.
• A section of the balcony was completely crushed.
• The roof was punctured.

According to Krager, the $150,000 will be used to reimburse several expenses already incurred, such as for tree removal ($8,250), roof patch ($5,455) and balcony repair ($12,560). The remaining funds will be applied towards a full roof replacement of the Nature Center (estimated total cost of $263,440).

Staff plans to coordinate with the architects at CainRashWest to finalize the construction documents for the roof replacement and send the project out to bid. Kingsport has until July 1, 2026, to complete the project.