By: Jeremy Handel, Staff Writer
Woodruff city officials are eyeing some new amenities to provide recreational opportunities for the community, including a 40-acre sports complex on the northwest side of town.
“Our community is growing, and we’ve got to provide recreational facilities for the community,” said City Manager Lee Bailey. “We don’t have a lot of recreation facilities, and this will allow us to offer more to the people of Woodruff.”
With nearly 5,000 new homes planned in the area, Bailey said the city’s population is projected to double in the next five to seven years. The current recreational facilities are not adequate to provide the sports and recreation options the increased population would need.
With that in mind, the city approved a set of new impact fees for all new development in the city earlier this year. A portion of those fees will go to fund increases for the police department and new recreation amenities, which includes a proposed athletic complex on Fountain Inn Road at Godfrey Town Road, near Lanford Grove Holiness Church.
“We envision a very nice facility that would be one-of-a-kind in the Upstate,” Bailey said.
While official planning has not yet begun, a conceptual drawing of what the complex could look like at full buildout includes multiple baseball/softball fields, soccer/lacrosse fields, a walking path, and a playground.
Bailey said the city has envisioned a large sports complex in the city for a while and began seeking out a potential site in the past couple of years. With the new impact fees in place, the funding source for the complex, which is projected to be approximately $16 million, is also in place.
Bailey emphasized that the park is just conceptual at this time, and the preliminary drawing is certain to change as the city gets into more formal planning. He said the park is likely three to five years from being built as the city’s impact fee fund for the parks and recreation department builds.
Author: Tracy Sanders
