The first of three public forums was held last week to seek input on a master renovation plan for the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex.
City and county residents will have two more chances to share ideas and ask questions at 5 p.m. June 7 and June 21 in the Council Chamber of City Hall.
The forums will be held just prior to regular meetings that are scheduled for the El Dorado City Council.
The purpose of the hearings is to gather suggestions from the public in order to refine the master plan and to see what projects people would like to see included in the plan and a grant application to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
Perry Carr, of ETC Engineers and Architects, Inc., told the audience that the grant application would flow through the ADPT’s Outdoor Recreation Grants Program.
Earlier this year, the complex board of directors asked ETC, which is based in Little Rock, to review and tweak a master plan that was drafted for the complex in 2014 by local firm CADM Architecture, Inc.
The original plan called for the completion of two fields just west of the Dumas Pavilion, an additional baseball field south of the El Dorado High School softball and baseball fields, and parking expansion and improvements.
The projects would be done in two phases, with a probable cost budget of nearly $1.7 million.
Since the original plan was drafted, the complex board was awarded a state grant that was used, along with matching funds from the El Dorado Works tax, to install lights and electricity for the two newest fields on the south end of the complex.
Donations from local businesses and industries covered the costs of new scoreboards for all of the complex fields, new playground equipment and labor and costs to thin some trees on the south end of the complex to make room for additional parking space.
The board has also used its operating budget to advance smaller projects that are ongoing, including new roofs for existing dugouts, adding a roof to a small gazebo near the concession stand and irrigation and drainage improvements.
ETC looked over the master plan and the facility 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.
Carr said the proposal complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Your new playground surface is ADA-compliant, but getting to the playground is not handicapped accessible,” he said.
Reviewing the proposal
Complex board members are reviewing the ETC proposal and asking for public feedback to determine which option would work best for the facility and the area.
Board members have said they want to make the complex the premiere recreation/sports facility in the region facility for south Arkansas in order to generate more revenue, host more and larger tournaments and to provide facilities to help area youth hone their athletic skills and talents.
Carr said ETC specializes in recreation and sports facilities and has worked on several such projects around the state, including a nine-field facility in Batesville.
“That’s probably about 80 percent of our business. We do a lot of these facilities, but we haven’t done a lot in this part of the state,” Carr said.
He said ETC worked on a Miracle League field in Monticello.
Miracle League provides specialized athletic facilities and programs for children and young adults with disabilities.
An effort by the complex board to introduce a Miracle League at the Champagnolle Road facility was revised when the board voted in 2013 to locate the field at 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.
Robert Reynolds, chairman of the El Dorado Works Board — which administers the city’s one-cent sales that is dedicated to economic development and quality of life — asked Carr if ETC assisted in a grant application to develop the Miracle League field at the complex.
Carr said he did not recall such an effort.
ETC helped the complex board apply for a $175,000 state grant that was used to develop the two fields that are adjacent to the Dumas Pavilion.
The board, which was chaired by Ken Blackmon at the time, later decided to use one of the two fields for the Miracle League program.
A separate Miracle League board was subsequently formed and fundraisers held to come up with the money to build the Miracle League field.
The $175,000 grant was included in the complex budget and went toward costs to build the two softball fields next to the Dumas Pavilion.
Money that was raised for the Miracle League field was maintained separately from the complex budget and was never spent.
ETC did not assist with the Miracle League project.
Alderman Dianne Hammond, who is a member of the complex board, said the board was referred to Carr by Norphlet Mayor Jim Crotty, adding that ETC worked with the city of Norphlet to procure a grant for sports and recreation facilities there.
Grant application
Carr said ETC will write the application for the ADPT grant to help implement the master plan for the complex.
He said the application is due in August, noting that the grant comes with a 50/50 match and a maximum award of $250,000.
“You’ll find out if you get the money in October or November,” Carr said.
He said the city and county can match the grant with cash, labor and/or in-kind services.
Alderman Willie McGhee asked who would track labor and in-kind services.
“It would have to be someone from the city or county or it could be a member of the (complex) board,” Carr said. “The state will reimburse you the hourly rate of the employee. It includes equipment rentals — anything you can place a dollar value on.”
Added Hammond, “We have a treasurer on the complex board that will take care of that.”
Dean Storey, a member of the Union County Quorum Court, asked what degree of control the ADPT would have over the project.
“They would send somebody down to make sure you’re keeping it clean and that the upgrades have been done and that it’s open to the public, but they won’t lord over you,” Carr said.
Alderman Michael Rice, who said he has visited numerous recreation complex facilities in Arkansas and Louisiana, inquired about concession stand revenues.
Rice and Carr noted that some facilities operate and maintain their own concession stands and others contract the service. The El Dorado-Union County facility contracts with a local concessionaire.
“I prefer that you do it yourselves because the money comes back to you guys,” Carr said.
For example, Carr said ETC worked on a new sports complex in Cabot in 2016.
Once the new facility opened, a Cabot city official reported that concession stand sales jumped from $2,000 to $10,000 the first time a tournament was held there, Carr said.
In Batesville, the mayor reported a 6-percent increase in city sales tax revenue once the new, nine-field facility got up and running there, Hammond added.
“I want to see El Dorado’s complex competitive with other communities so you can bring in 10 to 12 tournaments a year,” Carr said. “It really brings an economic impact into the city.”
John Turbeville, audience member and former chairman of the complex board, voiced his support of the master plan and grant application.
“I’ve been saying this for five years now. Our community needs this. I hope you are able to achieve this grant for our community,” Turbeville said.
Mayor Frank Hash noted that the complex is a city-county facility, and the two entities need to work together to develop a plan to cover the cost of the master renovation and expansion plan.
Hash mentioned a bond issue as a possible solution.
“We’ve been eating this elephant one meal at a time. The city has the honeypot with the (El Dorado Works tax) but not enough to do it at one time,” the mayor said. “If we could do it at one time, we would be in the catbird seat.”
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.