Petal residents can expect to soon see some more much-awaited improvements at the Robert E. Russell Sports Complex on Hillcrest Drive, as officials have signed a contract for a new splash pad and soccer fields at the site.
With that move, city engineer John Weeks will be able to survey the location and come up with specifications for the projects before they go out to bid. The splash pad and fields will be paid for with funds from the 3 percent tax increase at Petal restaurants that was implemented last year, which goes toward the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“It’s fantastic; it’ll be some of the first monies that we will have spent from our 3 percent monies,” Mayor Tony Ducker said. “So that is very exciting, to let the public see that this money is being spent the way it was intended to be spent.”
The splash pad – which is expected to cost between $200,000 and $250,000 – will be located near the playground at the complex, while the soccer fields will be built inside the current walking track. Officials have yet to determine the exact number of fields that will be featured at the site.
“There will be multiple soccer fields, but we’ve got kind of confined space,” Ducker said. “We’ll have to see how many we can fit in there that will make sense.”
The splash pad is expected to be open by next summer, while the soccer fields will take a little longer to complete.
“We want to get (the soccer fields) right,” Ducker said. “It’ll take longer, because you’re going to be growing grass (and other measures).
“It’s basically a large project as much as anything – shaping that area to make it more level, to drain the water off properly and to get grass going. It’s pretty exciting; it’s at least six months ahead of what I had hoped to do, so we’re ahead of the curve and I’m really glad to start to see some movement in it.”
In addition, Larry Byrd, who represents District 104 in the Mississippi House of Representatives, was able to help procure $500,000 that will go toward a new entrance to the sports complex off East Central Avenue.
“I signed something (Monday); I don’t know if we physically got the money, but we were awaiting (the funds),” Ducker said. “The hopes of that is obviously to make the traffic to flow more easily through that area.
“We’re also hopeful that it will take some pressure off of Hillcrest and Central as well, which is a very busy intersection.”
Complex A at the Robert E. Russell Sportsplex and Brad Pickett Memorial Ballfields offers 25 acres of recreational activities, including T-ball fields, a concession stand, restrooms, a tennis court, a walking track and batting cages. Complex B is an extension of Complex A and includes four youth baseball fields, a concession stand, restrooms, a playground, batting cages, soccer fields, a skate park, a recreation office, gazebos with tables and benches, and sidewalks.
Complex C, which is the former Optimist Park, is now the home of the Petal Dixie Softball Association. It has three softball fields, a concession stand and restrooms.
