The design phase can now proceed for proposed projects to improve Memorial Stadium and South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field.
The El Dorado City Council has approved funding requests totaling $705,000 for both projects.
The money will come from the El Dorado Works economic development tax.
The majority of the funds will go toward upgrades to the 71-year-old Memorial Stadium.
The proposed project includes a two-story press box on the west side and work to make the west-side bleachers more easily accessible to disabled visitors.
Combined, the work comes with an estimated budget of $700,000.
Five thousand dollars was committed to hiring CADM Architecture, Inc., to design a new sign for the entrance to SARA.
CADM is also working on the stadium project.
The El Dorado Works board, which administers the city’s one-cent economic development tax, approved the funds on 14 and board chairman, Robert Reynolds, presented the request to the city council on Aug. 20 for final approval.
The stadium is owned by the city and managed and operated by the El Dorado School District under a 99-year lease for a nominal fee.
Blake Dunn, of CADM, previously said that the projects at Memorial Stadium could be completed by next fall — a timeframe that includes shoring up the conceptual design, bidding the project and construction.
The proposed upgrades call for two tiers — with stairwells on the north and south ends for egress —, a film deck, areas for media representatives, coaches, scouts and an area that could potentially be used for fundraising opportunities for the school district and its athletic programs that use the stadium.
Future possibilities include the addition of an elevator.
State Rep. Matthew Shepherd, an organizer of the Murphy USA Classic — an NCAA Division-II college football game that is held each year in Memorial Stadium — said the nearly 30-year-old press box is “insufficient” for high-school and college football coverage and has been described by at least one visiting media representative as “inadequate” and “horrible” for an NCAA event.
On Aug. 20, Dunn told council members that the press box would be expanded eastward to gain additional width, going from eight feet to 12 - 14 feet.
Dunn and Reynolds explained that a structural engineering analysis showed that the structure would support the larger press box.
Council Member Willie McGhee inquired about the east press box and Dunn said there are currently no plans for work on the visitors side of the stadium.
Dunn noted there are concerns about the east press box, including issues with visibility and glare from the sun.
Shepherd previously said concerns about handicapped accessibility have been raised by several members of the public.
“Right now, that access is on the track, which is not an optimal position to view activities on the field,” Shepherd said on Aug. 14.
Preliminary plans call for the removal of the first four rows of the north end of the bleachers on the west side of the stadium to create space for wheelchair access.
Dunn said the space could accommodate between nine and 12 wheelchairs.
A ramp would bring visitors with physical disabilities to the main level of the bleachers.
The money for the stadium projects will be taken from the community development category of the El Dorado Works tax. Fifteen percent of revenues are dedicated to the category, with 6 percent going to parks and playgrounds, and the money for the stadium will come from the remaining 9 percent that is dedicated to other quality of life initiatives, Reynolds explained.
“That’s money (tax revenue) that’s already been collected, right?” Council Member Billy Blann asked. Reynolds said yes.
Airport sign
Reynolds also told the council that the existing sign at the U.S. 82 entrance to SARA will have to be relocated to make way for a highway widening project that is being planned by the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
ARDoT will cover the cost of moving the sign.
City officials and members of the El Dorado Airport Commission agreed there is a need for a new, larger sign that promotes the airport and helps travelers on U.S. 82 identify the entrance into the facility.
They said they viewed the upcoming highway project as an opportunity to install a new sign at the entrance and place the existing sign in a new location.
Airport commissioners formed a subcommittee to study the matter, and during a regular meeting earlier this month, Commissioner Craig Smart said the group needed professional help to come up with designs for a new sign.
“I would like to see a sign at Goodwin Field that’s to the magnitude of what we have at our gateway entrances,” Blann said, referring to the four gateway signs at U.S. 82 west, U.S. 167 north and south, and Arkansas 7 near El Dorado Chemical Company.
Reynolds and Mayor Frank Hash noted ongoing efforts by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to build a conservation education center on SARA grounds, just north of the entrance and across from the old Babe Ruth baseball field.
Hash presented the $5,000 funding request to the EWB on Aug. 14.
“A new sign is important for people to be able to find the airfield. The sign that’s there is nice, but it’s not eye-catching,” the mayor said last week, adding that the $5,000 will pay for architectural services and additional funding will be needed to purchase and install the sign.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at [email protected].