Improvements at Elton Dean Park unveiled
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – Montgomery County leaders are celebrating improvements at Elton Dean Park.
The upgrades include a new ADA-accessible fishing pier and extended walking paths. The project was primarily funded through a $200,000 transportation grant, with the Montgomery County Commission providing the remaining funds.
Officials say the improvements will make the park more accessible for everyone. That’s something Dean’s family said their father would have liked.
“My daddy loved fishing,” his son, Elton Dean, Jr., told Action 8 News. “It’s great to see that the county did something in his honor to keep the dream alive. I just want the people to know that my daddy loved Montgomery. He was a people person that loved everybody.”
Montgomery County Parks and Recreation Director James Williams says he would like even more improvements in the years to come.
“I would love to see a lodge. That way, we could year around host things like weddings, family reunions. I think it would be well used.,” he said.
The 15-acre park is on Old Selma Road. It opened in 2020.
It was named after Elton Dean, Jr., the longtime chairman of the Montgomery County Commission, who died in 2022.
Dean was elected to the commission in 2000 and served 22 years until his death. He was elected vice chairman at the commission’s organizational meeting in November 2004 and named chairman in 2009, a role he served passionately over the rest of his life.
