The Legacy Park Athletics and Recreation Coalition recently made its first public presentation of a proposed track and field complex for construction on the old United Methodist Children’s Home property. The collective has been extant for two years with the goal of getting that facility on site sooner rather than later.
During last week’s virtual report before the Legacy Decatur board, the LPARC unveiled a conceptual plan and gave an estimated construction cost of roughly $4 million (down from the original $6 million of two years ago). But as LPARC member Adam Pinsley told the AJC, the Coalition still hasn’t secured any financial partners for the project.
The group is hoping the two primary partners will be the City of Decatur and City Schools of Decatur although, in truth, since COVID-19 budgets and long-term planning for both have been dramatically revised.
CSD had originally scheduled a new round of facilities planning for this year. With the opening of the Talley Street Upper Elementary last year, the school system completed all building projects financed by the $75 million general obligation bond passed by voters in Nov. 2015. But COVID put all facilities discussions on hold and there’s still no indication when they’ll resume.
Decatur High hasn’t had an on-campus or official home track in decades, if ever, with the track teams running their meets for years at Agnes Scott College and in recent seasons at Grady High.
LPARC’s vision is that of a shared city/school venue used for anything from community recreation to competitive events. The conceptual plan shows, among other features:
*An eight-lane track with some space for field events.
*A 70-yard by 110-yard synthetic turf field in the middle that can host soccer, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee and football events.
*A 2,000 square-foot fieldhouse featuring lockers and restrooms.
*A hardscape events plaza or gathering space, where concessions could be sold
*500-seat grandstand, although that could later be increased.
The facility would likely get built in phases, with the track and field first and the other amenities probably coming later. But the question still remains, when will it get built? Pinsley says it depends on how quickly LPARC can line up financial partners.
In 2018 when the City of Decatur completed its master plan for the 77-acre Legacy Park, the track was unquestionably the recreational centerpiece. But initial forecasts placed its construction not beginning for another 10 to 15 years, and it still remains to be seen if that can be accelerated.
Pinsley added that once the funds are available it would take about four to six months to create an actual site plan and another six to eight months to complete a first phase.
“Our next step,” he said, “is to regroup in January and begin trying to get the main [fundraising] players together. It’s always been part of the plan to make this a collaborative process. We are looking for private and public partners—it will require a lot of partners. And we still need to address issues like maintenance and upkeep and parking.”
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