RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Lakeshore Park at the Ross Barnett Reservoir has been renamed to Bobby Cleveland Park at Lakeshore.
The Clarion Ledger reported the Reservoir Board of Directors voted unanimously to rename the park after the beloved outdoors writer, Bobby Cleveland.
“He was a very devoted champion of the reservoir,” general manager John Sigman said of Cleveland.
The park is in Rankin County, a few miles northwest of Jackson.
Cleveland was well-known across Mississippi for his work as the outdoors writer for the newspaper. He lived near the reservoir and fished in it often. After he left the newspaper in 2012, be became the spokesman for the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, the state agency that manages the reservoir.
The decision comes after a petition called for the name of the lake to be renamed in Cleveland’s honor.
Sigman said the request to rename the park was presented by the Barnett Reservoir Foundation, an organization for which Cleveland had been secretary.
Foundation member Susan Brashear said she isn’t sure when a sign will be placed at the park with Cleveland’s name on it. She said part of the cost will be paid by an anonymous donor.
Cleveland’s wife, Pam, said her husband liked to schedule concerts and other events at Lakeshore Park so people could watch the sunset over the reservoir.
Cleveland died from a car accident in April. He was 67.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.