City Stops Recreational Activities at Park; Closing Community Center due to Coronavirus

City of East Ridge officials announced today that due to issues surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic, the City of East Ridge is postponing all recreational activities and community gatherings in the city’s park facilities during the period which follows the Hamilton County Department of Education school closure calendar.

The Camp Jordan Complex and East Ridge Community Center will be closed from March 16^th to March 27^th. Officials will continue to monitor the situation closely and make adjustments as warranted.

Officials said that sporting events at the Camp Jordan Park, including the upcoming Shamrock Cup Soccer Tournament, have been postponed.

Residents will be allowed to access the park for other recreational activities, such as walking the track or fishing in the pond, during this time.

The Community Center will be completely closed as of Monday, officials said. The center is the site of a number of activities geared toward senior citizens, who are particularly at risk for adverse health effects related to the coronavirus.

“We want to do everything we can to assure the health and safety of our citizens and visitors,” said Assistant City Manger Kenny Custer.

Custer said when the community center is idle, it will be completely sanitized.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.