Plans for a large soccer and aquatic complex near Interstate 10 and Interstate 65 became a point of tension at Mobile’s City Council meeting this week, after Mayor Sandy Stimpson questioned whether the project belonged in the city’s fiscal year 2015 budget at all.
Stimpson told council members the idea “came up quickly” and that he would question whether the council needed to act on it right away. His administration has proposed dedicating roughly $3 million in the coming year’s budget toward fixing up the city’s existing parks rather than committing money to a new complex, describing it as a pay-as-you-go approach to catching up on years of deferred maintenance.
The comments came a day after Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson asked the council to set aside city funding to help build the proposed complex, which would include 10 soccer fields for tournament play, an aquatic center with a lazy river and splash pads, an indoor competition pool, and roughly 80 acres of natural habitat with certified cross-country trails. The full project would sit on 200 acres, which the county currently holds an option to purchase for around $3.1 million.
“This is an opportunity to provide what the community has been begging for decades,” Hudson told council members, urging the city to partner with the county to make the project happen. She pushed back on the mayor’s characterization of the proposal as a surprise, noting that she had raised the idea with Stimpson’s administration early in his term and that the project had been publicly discussed for some time.
Stimpson raised concerns about long-term costs, noting the city already carries close to $280 million in debt and would likely take on an ongoing maintenance obligation even if it isn’t asked to help finance construction directly. “If built, who will maintain it?” he asked. Hudson said the county has no intention of obligating the city to any responsibilities unless the two governments formally agree to specific terms.
Council members were divided on how to proceed. Councilman John Williams, whose district includes the proposed site, said he wasn’t ready to include the project in the 2015 budget given ongoing struggles to maintain existing parks and facilities, though he said he’d listen if the mayor’s office wanted to contribute. Councilman Joel Daves agreed the city needs a soccer complex eventually but said diverting limited capital funds toward an open-ended commitment carried real risk. Councilman Fred Richardson, by contrast, voiced support for including a line item for the project, while Council President Gina Gregory said she backed the concept and suggested some of the mayor’s proposed $3 million in park funding could be redirected toward it.
A full cost estimate for the complex is expected once consulting firm Neel-Schaffer Inc. completes its report, due in November. Hudson said the county may fold development costs into a capital bond it could consider later this year or in early 2015. The council was expected to take up the broader 2015 budget, which takes effect Oct. 1, in the days following the meeting.