City council rejects bids for sports complex project

The pitchers mound remains dirty as it waits for a player.(KAIT)
Published: Sep. 27, 2022 at 7:15 AM CDT|Updated: Sep. 27, 2022 at 11:09 AM CDT

BROOKLAND, Ark. (KAIT) - After years of discussion, a multi-million dollar proposal to build a new sports complex in Brookland has been put on hold.

During a city hall meeting on Monday, September 26, the Brookland city council voted against the bids to build a sports complex just west of Highway 49.

When the city planned this complex, it set aside 2.3 million dollars.

Due to rapid inflation, the lowest bid was slated at 4.7 million dollars.

“It concerns me that inflation has driven the price that what we had planned up to a point of, can we do it,” said Brookland Mayor Kenneth Jones.

Inflation has impacted everyone differently.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the price of basic building supplies has risen 33% since the start of the COVID pandemic.

Stacy Walker, a Brookland resident and travel ball mom, said she and her family love traveling for sports, but it gets old after a while. She said building a complex closer to their home could save them hundreds of dollars and help out the community of Brookland.

“The bigger tournaments we travel to, they would be in St Louis, so a lot of our dollars are going there,” said Walker.

Walker says it’s about more than just a complex, as families like hers take their money elsewhere while Northeast Arkansas has just as much to offer.

“We want to keep our tax dollars local and we have plenty to offer here and we would bring so many more people in,” said Walker.

The Brookland Parks Committee plans to still move forward with part of the project but it may have to break them up and bid them out individually to help reduce cost.

“The city is still building the two smaller parks. We have revised the parks to meet the current AR codes and regulations and are just waiting for final approval,” the Brookland Parks Committee said in a post online.

Mayor Kennett Jones said they are going back to the drawing board. Once they have the plans, the bidding process will begin again.

Editor’s Note: The story initially stated the city voted against the sports complex project. That was incorrect and we apologize for the error.