Soccer fields put on hold at proposed complex
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 30, 2003
[7/30/03]Soccer will take a back seat to softball when a new recreation complex is built behind St. Michael’s Catholic Church on Fisher Ferry Road, officials with the city said on Tuesday.
Vicksburg Parks and Recreation director Craig Upton said the money for the complex, which originally called for four slow-pitch softball and four soccer fields, has fallen from $1.7 million to $1 million. The loss of $700,000 will force Upton to abandon plans for the soccer fields for now, he said. South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman said the funding did not decrease, it never existed in the first place.
“We never had but a million dollars for the complex,” Beauman said. “We had $1.7 million of stuff we had to do, but only $1 million to spend on it.”
The preparations for the softball fields will move forward once the 200-acre plot of land behind the church is purchased, Beauman said.
He added that the choice between softball and soccer was made based upon the declining conditions of the softball fields at City Park.
Softball is “our weakest area,” Beauman said. “We have not been involved in soccer for a long time.”
The Vicksburg Soccer Organization will continue to host its league matches in Bovina.
VSO president Clinton Graston said the organization is in full support of plans to bring soccer fields to Vicksburg, and he has offered his support to the city.
“We told them we’ll put goals out there and set up the fields if we just had a place to play,” he said.
But the VSO can’t wait on the complex being built because Graston said he thinks it will take awhile.
“I played softball here 16 or 17 years ago and this softball complex was being planned back then,” Graston said.
Beauman said he’s unsure of when the softball fields will be started because the city is having problems securing the land the complex will be built upon.
“We haven’t made a determination of when,” Beauman said. “Until we get the property, we can’t set a timetable.”
The city had issued a bond to attain the money for the complex. Upton said he’s uncertain how the city will secure the money necessary to complete the soccer fields and the rest of the complex, which was designed to include trails, parks and possibly even skateboarding ramps.
“They’ll still be built in the future,” he said. “We’ll just have to budget well, or take out another bond.”
The city issued a similar bond 10 years ago with the hope of building a sports complex, but instead used the money to build City Pool.
As a temporary solution, Upton has opened the gym at the Jackson Street Community Center for soccer pickup games on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 to 10 p.m.
In addition, the VSO will start an adult soccer league for the first time in more than 10 years.
The games will be played at Bovina, and registration will continue through Sept. 15.