Council to annex land for sportsplex

FLORENCE -- City council members plan Tuesday to put forth a resolution to annex into the city the west end's Coffee-O'Neal Park property, site of the upcoming sports complex.

The O'Neal family owned the former pastureland for five generations, and if the city council passes the resolution, the 186 acres will become part of the city.

The annexation is one more step to bring a sports complex into Florence. So far at the site, the main focus has been moving dirt.

"Due to the lay of the land, it's real hilly, they're having to move a lot of dirt," said Tina Kitchens, the city's parks and recreation director.

She said the site preparation is expected to take until the end of June, work that will focus on flattening the rolling land. "There's going to still be a slight slope out there," she said.

The $13 million sports complex, six years in the making, broke ground March 22. All 19 pieces of equipment, including four bulldozers and 10 scrapers, moved onto the site within a week, said Ed Hester, project architect with SKT, the firm that is overseeing the sports complex's construction.

Kitchens did not give a firm date when the project will be completed, citing unknown factors such as weather or rock formations.

The project's contract is for nine months, however.

The sports complex will include five baseball fields and four softball fields with concession, restrooms and press box; six soccer fields with concession and restrooms; a main entrance plus gatehouse and two paved parking lots.

The finalized version of the sports complex's first phase included several compromises, such as removal of an 18-hole disc golf course, removal of an entrance from Savannah Highway and some parking lots will remain unpaved.

According to Kitchens, no time-lagging issues have slowed down the work, which includes grading, building, paving, curbing and seeding.

"Hopefully, by the end of June, we will have grass seed on," said Ben Maharrey, assigned by Mayor Bobby Irons to keep up with the project. "It won't be playable anytime this year, unfortunately; even with sodding that would probably not be possible."

Maharrey estimated that the ballfields will be ready next year. "By late spring or early summer, we'll be able to play ball out there," he said.

Staff Writer Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@timesdaily.com.