The City of Lakeland Parks & Recreation Board wants to hear from you. Specifically, they want to know what citizens would like to see at the future Lakeland Athletic Complex planned to be constructed at 9661 Memphis Arlington Rd.
Among the options presented for future use are fields for baseball, softball, soccer, football, etc. and other amenities such as playgrounds, pavilions and trails. Also offered as a possibility are indoor and/or outdoor pools and a splash pad. No matter what options are chosen, most work would be completed in phases, not all at one time.
Pat O’Mara, Parks and Recreations Director for Lakeland said the survey will help capture what citizens would like in future phases. “The survey was implemented as part of our project with Barge Design Solutions to revamp the master plan of the park reflecting the adjustments from phase 1, which relocated the flat fields within the park due to wetlands issues,” Mr. O’Mara said. He continued saying, “The survey is to capture the current needs and desires of the community for phases 2 and beyond.”
Background
This Athletic Complex has been in the works for nearly 5 years. The property, approximately 100 acres on the Southeast corner of Memphis-Arlington and Canada Road, was purchased by the City under the Carmichael administration back in 2003. As the City has developed over the last 10 years and the Parks & Rec sports program has grown, the need for a dedicated athletic facility for Lakeland recreation programs became paramount.
Under former Mayor Wyatt Bunker the city received approval on a $500,000 grant to help build the facility. Those funds will help build 2 general purpose flat fields in phase one. It’s anticipated those fields will be used for a variety of different sports. According to Vice Mayor Michelle Dial, who is also board liaison to the parks and recreation board, the grant is still available but the city can not wait much longer to use the funds. “Yes, we still have access to the $500,000, but we are still jumping thru some hoops. The consolidation of 3 parcels and the NLU and ARAP paperwork has been submitted though,” said Vice Mayor Dial.
Final approval on future phases of the Athletic Complex, as well as bidding on the project is expected to take place later this year.
