07/22/2024
The facts remain.....
In 2022 Jasper Mayor O'Mary and the City Council increased the sales tax in order to fun the Mayor's 4-Point Plan. #1 priority is the Mega Sports Park. Now that 27 million dollars has been accumulated, they are not pursuing the sports park.
When you raise taxes on your people and tell them what you are going to do with the money DO IT!
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From the Daily Mountain Eagle (7/11)
Graves: New sports complex needed in the city
A longtime proponent of a new sports complex being built in the city asked Jasper City Council members Tuesday morning to put a freeze on any spending for planned renovations at Memorial Park.
Paul Graves, representing the "Build the Fields" committee, asked council members to suspend any plans for renovations at Memorial Park, and to conduct an independent economic study on the feasibility of building a new sports complex.
Graves said the "Build the Fields" committee — with a growing page at Build the Fields - Jasper, as well as a website at buildthefields.com — has grown to nearly 3,000 followers who fully support a new sports mega park being built in the city.
“While Memorial Park is a great asset for our community, it will always be a negative cost to the city and it could never be a sports mega park,” Graves said Tuesday.
Council members last month approved plans to proceed with extensive renovation of the athletic facilities at Memorial Park in Jasper. That includes work on the five existing baseball and softball fields — including upgraded lighting and the possibility of installing artificial turf — along with construction of a second gymnasium near the existing Swann Gym. Plans also call for the addition of batting cages, a playground, improvements to an existing soccer field and expanded parking.
The cost of the Memorial Park renovation project is expected to be in the $12 million to $14 million range, Jasper Mayor David O’Mary said last month.
“Why spend $10 million on that park that will generate no economic impact for the city when you could spend $10 million and build a new mega park that would generate millions of dollars annually for the city and our businesses?” Graves said.
Graves cited several concerns with the renovations at Memorial Park, including the lack of room for extensive growth, as well as the lack of space for parking and roads not equipped to handle significant traffic.
Graves pointed to a sports complex in Cullman that generates millions of dollars each year.
“The mayor there said never in their imagination did the community have any idea the impact the park would have when it was built 20 years ago,” Graves said. “It absolutely exceeded all economic expectations. This could have been Jasper 20 years ago when our city leaders were talking about building a park but never did.”
Graves said sports mega parks “are a business … a clean industry” that draw people from across the southeast to tournaments that generate lots of revenue for cities.
“Hundreds of people will come to our city and stay two or three days and eat at our restaurants and stay in our hotels, then go home, leaving their money here,” he said. “And when these parks are built new restaurants and hotels will follow.”
Most cities with sports mega parks host tournaments 40 to 48 weekends a year, he said.
“This does not have to be built overnight,” Graves said. “This could be built in phases under the guidance of a well-formulated strategic plan.”
“Let’s not lose this opportunity to help our city have an economic boom,” Graves added. “It’s happening in all these other cities. Why not Jasper?”
