BROOKLAND, Ark. (KAIT) – After years of discussion, a multi-million dollar proposal to build a new sports complex in Brookland has been put on hold.
During a city hall meeting on Monday, September 26, the Brookland city council voted to not build a sports complex just west of Highway 49.
When the city planned this complex, it set aside 2.3 million dollars. Due to rapid inflation, however, the blueprints for the complex are being put on the shelf.
“It concerns me that inflation has driven the price that what we had planned up to a point of, can we do it,” said Brookland mayor Kenneth Jones.
Inflation has impacted everyone differently. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the price of basic building supplies has risen 33% since the start of the COVID pandemic.
Stacy Walker, a Brookland resident and travel ball mom, said she and her family love traveling for sports, but it gets old after a while. She said building a complex closer to their home could save them hundreds of dollars and help out the community of Brookland.
“The bigger tournaments we travel to, they would be in St Louis, so a lot of our dollars are going there,” said Walker.
Walker says it’s about more than just a complex, as families like hers take their money elsewhere while Northeast Arkansas has just as much to offer.
“We want to keep our tax dollars local and we have plenty to offer here and we would bring so many more people in,” said Walker.
The city said it is sacrificing some of what it promised the residents of Brookland to try and lower the cost, including a dog park and a small park for children.
Mayor Kennett Jones said they are going back to the drawing board. He said the city will come up with new plans and present them again at a later meeting.
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