On Friday, April 13, 2018, Smith Park reopened with a ribbon cutting.
A variety of food trucks parked along East Amite Street and North West Street during Food Truck Friday on April 13, 2018.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and Gov. Phil Bryant attended the ribbon cutting for Smith Park on April 13, 2018.
Jackson Police Department Chief Anthony Moore, along with other JPD officers, were present at the reopening ceremony for Smith Park on April 13, 2018.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said on April 13, 2018, that the reopening of Smith Park is just the first step of the new direction the city is headed in.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.