Warner Robins’ future sports park gets new location

kriner@sunmulti.com

The Warner Robins sports complex is slated to have yet

another home.

After years of discussion and debate, the Warner Robins City

Council held a special called meeting Wednesday and voted to move the complex

site to the north side of town.

The council agreed to pay $850,000 for 64.9 acres of land

that is located at North Houston Road and Elberta Road.

The plan for the site, according to Mayor Chuck Shaheen,

includes baseball fields and walking tracks. Shaheen noted that the work done

at the previous planned site would not go to waste. He said they plan to put

football fields and walking trails in that area.

“It’s been a long process to get this done,” said councilman

Mike Davis. Other members of the council echoed Davis’ statements and said they,

too, are excited about moving forward with the project.

The discussions and debates have been stirring for years; it

took some time for officials to publically say they weren’t building the sports

complex as originally proposed.

In June 2011, the Warner Robins Redevelopment Agency said

the City of Warner Robins was looking for a new place to build the proposed

sports complex. Redevelopment Agency executive director Gary Lee told the RDA

board members that he and Shaheen decided the current location for the proposed

facility is better suited for development.

The location of the first proposed site is northwest of the intersection of Ga.

247 and Russell Parkway near the Jefferson Hills neighborhood.

“We have decided that area be looked at for something else besides the sports

complex,” said Lee.

In an interview after the meeting, Lee said, “We haven’t moved it as of yet,”

but they have decided not to build it at the proposed current location.

Shaheen said, “It is in a HUBZone, which is an asset to a business to be

located in that zone.”

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration website, the HUBZone is a

Historically Underutilized Business Zones program, which “helps small

businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal

procurement opportunities.”

Lee also said after the meeting that James Dodson, the director of recreation,

is in charge of compiling a master plan that will determine the new location

for the complex.

During the meeting, Lee informed the board that the city was looking at

properties in the north part of the city.

“If the complex is there, then it forces people to travel in an area they

wouldn’t normally travel,” said Lee. “Traffic flow creates development.”

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