Friday, November 14, 2008
Supporters of youth athletics from across Hopkins County came together on Wednesday night at the County Office Building and voiced a wish list of expectations they hope will be constructed as part of the future Regional Sports Complex.
Synthetic turf, tennis courts, a nature trail and more were named as possibilities to include during the stakeholders meeting.
Keith Cartwright, who heads the Hopkins County Tourist and Convention Commission board, said more than $700,000 has been collected in state and local money for the complex.
Sixth District State Senator Jerry Rhoades said while the money comes in, it’s important youth athletic supporters envision what they want from such a facility.
“We’re going to shoot for the long term, we’re not going to just do what we’re able to do now,” he said. “I would anticipate this is a phased-in project over several years.”
James Barritt of the Madisonville Rotary Club, said he would like to make the future football fields at the complex home to rotary football, which lacks a permanent complex.
Barritt said the club needs use of a field as well as a concession stand for six weeks each fall and pending approval from the club’s board, the organization could even pool resources for it.
Many youth soccer supporters attended the meeting, including Hopkins County Youth Soccer Organization president Mark Kuehne, who stressed versatility of the fields.
Kuehne said it’s easy to turn one adult-sized field into three or four usable areas for U-6 and U-8 teams.
David Webb, president of the YAA softball and baseball fields, spoke on behalf of youth softball and encouraged the commission to think larger and build more than the currently planned eight fields.
“We have eight fields and we struggle to get our games in now,” he said of the YAA’s site.
Webb and others in attendance stressed the importance of raising money through use of the complex.
“We need to be hosting tournaments on a regular basis,” Webb said. “If we’re not having a softball tournament, we should be having a soccer tournament.”
Some audience members asked the commission to identify which youth organizations would utilize the complex and David Lamb of Associated Engineers said he hopes there will be a director to oversee the facilities and coordination of usage.
“You guys are the stakeholders because for it to be successful it has to meet the needs of those people out there promoting youth sports in the county,” Lamb said.
While each person at the meeting raised individual concerns and desires from lighting to emergency access and bathrooms, nearly all agreed the community needs an upgrade from its current multi-field facility at the YAA fields.
Cartwright said he thinks the site could be finished with construction sometime in 2010.
With many interested individuals and a wide array of thoughts for the complex, Lamb said he hopes to have similar stakeholder meetings in the future.
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