Strike three. Vicksburg, it appears, is out. At least for now.

After two previous failures at constructing a modern-day recreation complex to replace aging Halls Ferry Park, the latest plan pushed for months by Mayor Paul Winfield is dead.

House Local and Private Committee Chairman Joseph L. Warren, D-Mount Olive, on Monday denied the city’s request to have a referendum on levying a ½ percent sales tax increase levied inside the city limits. Two factors led to the denial — a split vote of the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen and an overall reluctance by House and Senate Local and Private committees to pass sales tax increases.

South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman, a long-time supporter of a recreation complex, voted against Winfield and Michael Mayfield on whether to approach the state about a tax increase. Beauman has said the key to getting a complex built is to have a millage increase across Warren County.

Beauman played a pivotal role in the 2003 purchase of property for a rec complex off Fisher Ferry Road near St. Michael Catholic Church. The city had dumped $3 million into the project before abandoning it. A small portion of the proposed complex is in a flood plain. Beauman, a former recreation director in Vicksburg, still believes the Fisher Ferry project is viable.

A second project in 2007 to transform Halls Ferry Park into a mega-complex fell apart after it was deemed the park could not be built because the current park is situated on what was once the city’s landfill. The city is still owed $250,000 by USA Partners Sports Alliance of Jacksonville, Fla., who said they would return the study money if it was shown the park could not be built. The Aquila Group of Vicksburg originally pushed the plan.

Winfield’s plans were too scattered from the start. He has been all over the map in his decision-making. He proposed first a 1½ percent tax increase on food and beverages and 2 percent increase in lodging in the city. That gained little traction with the local tourism industry.

He then proposed a 1 percent sales tax increase in the city and county, but more pushback scuttled that plan. His latest iteration was a ½ percent sales tax within the city.

And the location. First it was somewhere in the northern part of the city, then a plot of land near River Region Medical Center and a third plot behind Warren Central High School also was discussed. A fourth site, inside the city limits off Warrenton Road, also was thrown out as a possibility but never discussed publicly.

Too many questions went unanswered, too many plans.

So, back to the drawing board.

Baseball and softball games will continue to be played at Halls Ferry Park with its six baseball fields and one for softball. The facilities are far inferior to those at parks in Mississippi cities smaller and larger than ours. That will mean more money-making tournaments will head for those cities, while Vicksburg and Warren County decide if a modern rec complex is an option worth pursuing.