The last of three public hearings regarding a master plan for the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex was held last week, and attendees heard from a former complex board member who provided clarification and insight on a project that was proposed for the facility years ago.
The complex board of directors, along with ETC Engineers and Architects, Inc., has been hosting the public hearings to garner public input on a master improvement and expansion plan for the complex, which is located on Champagnolle.
The hearings are part of requirements to apply for a matching grant from the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism to help implement the master plan.
Local firm CADM Architecture, Inc., drafted the original master plan in 2014, and earlier this year, complex board members called on Little Rock-based ETC to tweak the plan.
ETC reviewed the master plan and the complex itself and offered a second opinion by coming up with several design concepts that included upgrades to existing amenities — including restrooms, fields and the RV site — and the addition of new features, such as a college baseball field, junior soccer fields and a splash pad for the playground.
The options came with budget estimates ranging from $1.2 million to just over $7 million.
Board members are also looking over the plan, exploring other funding options and considering public feedback to determine which conceptual design would best suit the complex and the community.
The goal is to make the facility the premier recreation/sports complex in South Arkansas by attracting more and larger tournaments and strengthening youth athletic programs in Union County, board members have said.
Carr said the grant application is due on the last working, business day in August, which is Aug. 31 this year, and the ADPT will announce awards in November or December.
The grant will flow through the ADPT’s Outdoor Recreation Grants Program, and it offers a 50/50 match of up to $250,000.
Audience member and Union County Quorum Court member Dean Storey inquired about the chances of a grant being awarded for the complex.
“Will it help that there are not many of these facilities in South Arkansas?” Storey asked.
“Yes, it will be a strong application. It will help because this part of the state is behind other communities with these types of recreational facilities,” Carr said.
Audience Markeith Cook asked if the master plan includes multipurpose opportunities, explaining that he coaches a Pee Wee football team that practices at the complex and plays its games at Memorial Stadium.
“Is there any way to make it multi-use and not just softball and baseball?” Cook asked.
Carr said Cook’s questions and feedback will be forwarded to the complex board.
“They’ll know because I’ll tell them, and the (El Dorado City Council) is here and it will be part of the minutes of the meeting,” Carr told Cook.
Mike Dumas, president and chief executive officer of the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce and a member of the quorum court, asked if the match for the grant had to be cash or if it could be met with in-kind services.
“Yes, it can be in-kind and that would be nice for me to know on the front end so that I can include it in the application,” Carr said.
Elizabeth Eggleston, executive director of the El Dorado Historic District Commission, asked if there was a commitment for the match, and Carr said the matter is up to the city council, quorum court and the complex board.
Carr has said that once the complex board settles on a design concept and cost, if money is not readily available to implement the master plan, then projects would have to be “cherry-picked” as money becomes available.
“I went out there yesterday, and it looks horrible. The parking lot is abominable,” audience member Candi Mattocks said.
“To recruit these big tournaments, you’re going to have to get it looking nice. It needs a lot of TLC right now,” Mattocks said.
Hash said Union County has pledged to resurface the parking lot, and complex board members are looking into other immediate fixes for parking and lighting issues at the complex.
In 2016, the ADPT awarded a $50,400 grant to help install lighting and electricity for the two south fields. The city committed $185,000 from the El Dorado Works tax as match to complete the project.
Miracle League
In 2007, ETC assisted in a grant application to help build the south fields.
The ADPT awarded $175,000 for construction of the fields, and since then, work to complete them has been done in phases, with restrooms, a concession stand and other amenities still lacking at the fields.
The two fields were part of an overall plan to build a total of four new fields on the south end of the complex, and past board members said the overall work would be done as funding became available.
Complex board members later decided to form a Miracle League in El Dorado and Union County and dedicate one of the two fields to the program.
Miracle League provides specialized athletic facilities and programs for children and young adults with disabilities.
A separate Miracle League board was subsequently formed and fundraisers held to come up with the money to build the field and develop the program.
The $175,000 grant and a small grant from the SHARE Foundation were included in the complex budget and went toward costs of building the two south fields, which are adjacent to the Dumas Pavilion.
Money that was raised for the Miracle League field was maintained separately from the complex budget and was never spent.
Plans for the Miracle League field were revised in 2013 when the complex board voted to relocate the field to the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado North West Avenue facility.
The club’s board of directors approved the request but the effort has since stalled.
During the public hearing on June 21, Ken Blackmon, former chairman of the complex board, said the Miracle League board raised $30,000 through donations and fundraisers, and the money has been sitting in escrow for several years.
Carr said ETC recently worked on a project to build a Miracle League field in Monticello. Prior to the completion of the project, the nearest Miracle League field was in Little Rock.
“This may be a specific topic we want to take up at a later date,” Mayor Frank Hash said. “What’s the estimated cost of a Miracle League field if we start from scratch?”
Blackmon said that with available fields at the BGCE and the complex, work would not have to begin from scratch.
“You would have to put in the type of foundation we need and that hard surface for wheelchairs,” Blackmon said.
He noted that a set of bleachers on one of the south fields at the complex was donated by SHARE and were to have been used for the Miracle League field.
Estimated costs to build a “whole field” were $450,000 more than a decade ago, Blackmon said, adding that the number included dirt work.
Hash asked if the $450,000 considered ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-accessible restrooms and dressing rooms, and Blackmon said no.
“I want to apologize to people in the community that it didn’t happen,” Blackmon said of the Miracle League project.
He voiced his support of the master plan for the complex and the effort to pursue the ADPT grant, saying, “That complex has more participation than any place in the whole community. I know it’s gone down some, but we need to do what we can to fix that.”
Black also said copies of documents pertaining to the $175,000 grant and other projects are available in the Loftin’s office.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.