The city’s new soccer complex is at about 50 percent completion.
Project engineer Kevin Stafford said Monday contractors have encountered no big delays in building the project with room for nearly two dozen soccer fields. Completion will allow Columbus and Lowndes County to host tournaments.
The whole project is about $7 million for developing about 75 acres, he said. However, the project will be completed in phases as money is available.
Phase one of the project is the $4.2 million soccerplex and basic amenities that include parking, restrooms and concession stands, Stafford said. He is an engineer for Neel Schaffer and also working for the Columbus Lowndes Recreation Authority on the project.
This project is unique in two ways, he said. First, it is shaped around the existing topography, which minimized site excavation. Second, streets are designed around and through fields to make parking spaces closer to the respective fields.
Each site presents its own peculiarities. “It’s always a challenge when you’re taking existing sites,” Stafford said. Retrofitting a narrow road and moving utilities are a couple of examples at the soccerplex.
When spring arrives, the pace of work will quicken, he said. Contractors expect to be finished in May.
The park is a joint project of the city and county. Columbus Lowndes Recreation Authority executive director Roger Short said the city has contributed in-kind donations to construction and Lowndes County has provided the cash. The site will allow field conversions to make 22 to 23 fields.
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