First Lady Maria Lee Announces Partnership with KABOOM!, Tennessee Serves to Build Playground in Clay County

Hermitage Springs, Tenn.— Yesterday, First Lady Maria Lee announced plans to build a new, inclusive play space for kids and families in Clay County and surrounding areas, in partnership with national nonprofit KABOOM!, and corporate partners Tractor Supply Foundation, Cleary Construction, and Tennessee Titans. To seek community input on the project, the group hosted Design Day, a multi-session planning event, with students, key stakeholders, and other community members of Clay County in attendance.

The First Lady and Tennessee Serves team spent the afternoon with Hermitage Springs School students hearing their ideas and hopes for the future playground. In the evening, the First Lady gathered with parents, teachers, county officials, and various other Clay County community members to seek community involvement in the project and collect additional input on the playground and the community’s unique needs.

“It was an honor to hear directly from Tennesseans in Clay County at Design Day. We were able to receive feedback firsthand from students, parents, teachers, and more about exactly what they hope for in their community’s new playground,” said First Lady Maria Lee. “We hope this playground will serve as a tangible message to the community that they are seen and not forgotten.”

The First Lady’s initiative, Tennessee Serves, invited all eight of Tennessee’s federally designated distressed counties to apply for the playground grant and, after reviewing criteria, selected Clay County. This project will provide an accessible playground at Hermitage Springs Park. Clay County officials and community members have long hoped to update Hermitage Springs Park but have been unable to due to lack of funding.

“We were thrilled to welcome Tennessee First Lady Maria Lee and the other partners to Clay County yesterday,” said Clay County Mayor Dale Reagan. “This playground will be a real blessing to the children and families here in the Hermitage Springs community and beyond for generations to come.”

The playground, which is scheduled to be built by community volunteers in mid-May, will represent a combined investment of over $285,000 in the rural Tennessee community, providing impactful infrastructure for bringing children, families, and neighbors together.

Representatives from each of the project’s partners attended the day’s design session to gain community input that will be directly used in the design of the Clay County play space. KABOOM!, Tennessee Serves and additional project partners Tractor Supply Foundation, Tennessee Titans, and Cleary Construction will work to apply these insights as plans become finalized in the coming months.

“When our playground can serve as a catalyst for multi-layered public, private, and nonprofit partnerships—like the one we are undertaking in Clay County—then those play spaces become more than just a new center for joy in kids’ lives; they also help energize a whole community. We are proud to partner with Tennessee Serves and appreciate the support First Lady Maria Lee and other public officials for our mission to end play space inequity in every community across America,” said Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM!.

To learn more about the First Lady’s work through Tennessee Serves, click here.

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