The idea of a sportsplex in Columbia isn’t new. It was brought up at a 1997 Chamber of Commerce forum as a way to “enhance the quality of life outside of the workplace,” according to an editorial published in this newspaper at the time.
The primary impediment to that happening over the past 22 years has been funding, but that hurdle is now surpassed. In a May 6 referendum, 76 percent of Columbia voters approved a 3 percent sales tax on restaurants and hotels that will go toward a sportsplex and other parks and tourism projects. The tax is expected to generate about $750,000 a year.
Clearly the people see the value in a sportsplex and want it built, but now the other question mark the project has carried with it must be addressed: where to put it.
Two main options have been considered: city-owned property off RA Johnson Drive or county-owned property at the former Columbia Training School, now known as the Marion County Businessplex. Both have potential positives and drawbacks.
The RA Johnson Drive property is very near the traffic and restaurants on U.S. 98. It’s also close to the existing City Park and Columbia High School athletics facilities. Having it near the highway would make it more visible to visitors and more of an attraction that people passing through would notice and appreciate.
The problem is the property is hemmed in and would not be conducive to future expansion, although it’s hard to say for sure how much space is needed when just looking at the empty fields out there.
Speculative drawings presented before the vote show room for both baseball/softball fields, soccer fields and a new CHS football stadium (which if done would be funded separately from the sportsplex projects). The question for me, though, would be parking. It takes massive amounts of it at a tournament, as anyone who has ever attended a youth sporting event can attest. We’ll have to wait for a more detailed study, I suppose, before knowing for sure.
It’s also kind of a swampy area out there, with the city lagoon just across the street. Would there be drainage issues on the fields? Again, it’s hard to know at this point.
Out at the BusinessPlex, there would be plenty of room. But it would be further away from the hub of 98.
There’s also a question of whether the Marion County Board of Supervisors wants to be involved when the project wouldn’t bring the county the benefit of extra sales tax revenue if visitors come in like it would the city. The city and county would also have to figure out how to build and operate the facility if the city owned the ballfields but the county owned the property.
And there’s a question of whether you want a sports complex around an industrial park. I would guess most manufacturers would say no. When you’re running a commercial operation, you want an out-of-the-way area to work in without a lot of traffic.
Supervisors expressed concerns in 2016 about putting ballfields at the BusinessPlex when a community group was seeking $8 million in state funding to build it, which ultimately didn’t happen because the Legislature didn’t approve the funds.
But as big as the former Training School property is, it’s possible you could locate fields far enough away from industrial sites so that both could peacefully coexist.
Pending environmental studies could also raise issues that no one has anticipated at both sites.
However it plays out, the mayor and aldermen — and potentially supervisors — are going to face difficult decisions.
Progress is never easy, but it’s worthwhile. A sportsplex has a potential to be a big part of the puzzle in a Columbia renaissance. All sides should keep that end goal in mind as the details are hammered out.
Charlie Smith is editor and publisher of The Columbian-Progress. Reach him at (601) 736-2611 or csmith@columbianprogress.com.
