A familiar face will once more be making the rounds as the City of Cullman’s top parks person. On Monday, city leaders officially welcomed the return of former parks director Nathan Anderson, who has just been hired back into the role he occupied until departing for the private sector in September of 2019.

Anderson, who has spent the past two years in Nashville directing entertainment logistics as the chief executive officer for 46/Entertainment, will resume his director’s position over Cullman’s Parks, Recreation, & Sports Tourism department beginning Dec. 16.

Over a five-year period before his 2019 departure, Anderson oversaw a massive expansion in the city’s parks services and amenities. He’s returning to oversee a parks department that’s expanded significantly during his absence: In addition to recent new projects including an RV tourism resort and an in-development new civic complex, the department is also growing with the acquisition of the Terri Pines golf course — as well as a new municipal skatepark, which the city council formally announced at its Monday meeting as a new amenity in development on vacant city land near Depot Park.

Anderson said he’s excited to take up his old director’s role once more — even as the city’s park offerings continue to grow. “There’s still the amazing team intact, and I’m super excited to get back to work with those guys,” he said. “They have done an amazing job continuing to push, moving forward and improving Cullman’s quality of life through its park facilities. I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Mayor Woody Jacobs said re-hiring Anderson was an easy decision for everyone who had a stake in filling the position — even if he’s inheriting a bigger job than the one he left such a short time ago.

“We are proud to have Nathan back, but boy, Nathan: You better hang on, because just in the short time that you’ve been gone, a lot has happened,” Jacobs joked. “…Some of the projects that we’re taking on will take a lot of management — and that’s why we’re so excited to get Nathan back as our parks director.”