We are told that one of the benefits of youth sports is that it builds character. Kids learn about fair play, respect for the opponent and the integrity of the game. They also learn about being “team players,” through working together toward a common goal.
It is with no small amount of irony that the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors hasn’t seemed to have learned to play well with others when it comes to recreation.
On April 4, the supervisors approved a $12 million proposal for a sportsplex on county-owned land west of the River. Most of those funds were devoted to building eight baseball/softball fields. A small multi-purpose center and a playground were also a part of that plan.
Almost immediately, the plan was subject to harsh criticism for its lack of a diversity of recreational options and its stubborn insistence of building baseball/softball fields in a county that already has plenty and will soon have more. About the time the supervisors were green-lighting their plan, the City of Columbus announced it was adding four baseball/softball fields to Propst Park, bringing the total number of those fields to 22. We’re not certain adding those fields is necessary, either, but at least it won’t come with a $12 million price tag. The cost of those new fields is projected at $2.1 million – $525,000 each. The county will spend close to $1 million apiece for its eight fields.
Meanwhile, there are a dozen or so other baseball/softball fields scattered around the city and county.
Stung by the criticism, supervisors asked its architect, JBHM Architects, to draw up plans for a Phase 2 for the sportsplex.
You may recall that JBHM’s original plan was for a $29-million complex that would feature not only ballfields, but a multi-purpose building, walking trails, soccer fields and an aquatics center.
Supervisors balked at the cost, fearing it would mean no more money for capital improvements for the next 20 years, perhaps longer.
On Monday, supervisors got a look at the plans for Phase 2, which focuses heavily on the large multi-use center with room for basketball courts, volleyball courts, a rock-climbing wall, meeting spaces, and a warming kitchen. It would also be built as a storm shelter that could accommodate 950 people. Currently, there are no storm shelters west of the Tombigbee.
Phase 2, as presented, would cost $13 million to $14-million. Together with Phase 1, that would be a $26-million price tag, almost as costly as the original plan rejected by the supervisors as too expensive.
If the supervisors really want to add to the recreational opportunities available to residents, it would be better to adopt the more versatile Phase 2 plan and shelf the baseball-heavy Phase 1, which adds nothing we don’t already have in abundance.
So how did we get here?
Five years ago, the county took its ball and went home when it unilaterally decided to break its partnership with the city and form its own parks and recreation department.
To do that, the county needed its own facilities. The county purchased the land for the sportsplex and baseball fields quickly emerged as a priority, proof positive that the county has no appetite at all for partnering with the city.
There is no reason that the county and city can’t use the same ballfields. Adding more simply oversaturates the supply of fields while failing to add recreational opportunities that do not currently exist – a missed opportunity.
That’s a waste of our tax dollars and a decision made mainly out of spite and possibly a fear of changing course.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
