A local group’s plans to be a partner with the City of Vicksburg in recreational facilities development and operations have been suspended — for now.

The Aquila Group informed Vicksburg’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen this week that it was unable to invest in developing the site off Fisher Ferry Road given difficulty in raising money for the project in the current economy, according to city officials and Kristi Pantin, vice president of marketing and procurement for Aquila.

The investors had been considering building a recreation facility on the Fisher Ferry land after environmental issues forced the group to abandon plans announced in 2007 for a youth sports megaplex costing up to $40 million at the site of Halls Ferry Park.

“Unforeseen economic downturns have forced Aquila, along with many other businesses, to re-evaluate their business model and potential funding sources,” Pantin said in an e-mail.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department will now bid out the development of the Fisher Ferry site, South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman said.  The site will initially include four fields for adult softball but will eventually be expanded to include fields for youth baseball, he said.

Pantin suggested that Aquila’s willingness to invest in the Fisher Ferry facility might change if the economy improves.

The company “anticipates the recovery of the current economic climate where both investors and corporate sponsors are again anxious to invest in sports facilities,” Pantin’s e-mail said.

The city bought the Fisher Ferry land for $325,000 several years ago, but put development on hold pending plans for Aquila to raise money, redevelop the Halls Ferry Facility and assume operations of recreation programs on a for-profit basis. That process was delayed pending the state environmental studies that eventually ruled out Halls Ferry because existing fields there are atop a former landfill that is sealed and should not be disturbed.

In the background was $4 million tabbed in Vicksburg’s most recent bond issue for recreation. With Halls Ferry ruled out, the city has taken bids and awarded a contract for intial clearing, grubbing and site preparation on a portion of the Fisher Ferry site. 

Another issue is the city’s vote in June 2007 to give USA Sports Partners Alliance, a Florida company that was helping Aquila secure financing for its plans, a refundable $250,000 to determine whether Vicksburg could support the youth sports complex at Halls Ferry.  Plans for the site included up to 16 fields for baseball and softball, a welcome center, retractable fencing for handicapped-accessible play, a chapel and a lodge.  Vicksburg was supposed to get its $250,000 back if the proposed complex proved unfeasible to build, or if USASPA could not raise $2.5 million within 12 months of determining that the development was sustainable.

USASPA is now raising money in order to send the city its refund by the end of February, according to J.D. Daniel, the company’s chief executive officer. 

Aquila, which is led by local businesswoman Tammy Davenport, had expressed interest as late as last month in developing the Fisher Ferry land.  Company officials said that a Fisher Ferry recreation complex would be of the same scope as the Halls Ferry proposal, differing from it only in location.

Aside from development of new facilities, Aquila was paid $22,360 by Vicksburg in 2008 to manage the youth baseball and girls’ softball programs at city-owned Halls Ferry Park.  It was responsible for such tasks as scheduling games, issuing equipment, running concession stands and hiring umpires and scorekeepers. 

The management contract will come before Vicksburg’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen for renewal as early as this month, Beauman said.