FORT SMITH — The sale of land that was set aside for a sports complex has paved the way for a possible public-private partnership involving the city itself.
During a study session Tuesday, the city Board of Directors discussed selling the land that was originally meant to be the site of the River Valley Sports Complex.
The developers of the River Valley Sports Complex, former Sen. Jake Files and his business partner, Lee Webb, approached the city in 2014 looking to build a tournament-quality complex of eight ball fields and amenities to draw in softball and baseball teams from around the region as an economic boost to the area, according to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette articles.
The city budgeted $1.6 million for the project, with the stipulation that Files and Webb complete it with donations of materials and labor. However, they missed deadlines that city directors continued to extend until the end of 2016, at which point they expressed their desire to withdraw from the project.
Files and Webb had spent $1.08 million of the city’s money before the city voted to terminate the agreement with the two in February 2017. City directors also demanded that Files and Webb return the $26,945 in state General Improvement Fund grant money they received for infrastructure work.
Files pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Jan. 29, 2018, to wire fraud and money laundering over receipt of the grant money. He also pleaded guilty to bank fraud for pledging a forklift he did not own as collateral for a bank loan. He began serving an 18-month sentence in August of 2018.
Files moved from a federal prison in El Reno, Okla., to a halfway house in Little Rock earlier this year in preparation for a Nov. 11 scheduled release. Charlie Robbins, public information officer for the U.S. attorney’s office, confirmed on Tuesday that Files was released that day.
POTENTIAL PURCHASE
In a memo to the Board of Directors, City Administrator Carl Geffken said the city issued a Request for Proposals in 2018 for a contractor to develop the property as a sports venue. One entity responded to the request, but negotiations fell through.
The city had the approximately 62 acres that comprised the sports complex property, as well as about 5 acres that are contiguous with it, appraised this year at $540,000 for the complex and $100,000 for the 5 acres, Geffken wrote. After announcing the sale of this land in a news release Oct. 22, the city received one bid for it in the amount of $210,273 for both properties.
“As a result of placing the [sports complex] and contiguous land up for bid, the city has been approached by a business person who will work to match the proceeds on a dollar for dollar basis if the city allocates the funds to replace several of the grass infields at the Kelley Park fields with artificial turf in order to expand the field’s use and attract tournaments,” Geffken wrote.
KELLEY PARK
Sam Sicard, president and chief executive officer of First National Bank of Fort Smith, and Bobby Aldridge, owner and principal engineer of Frontier Engineering Inc., provided the board with a proposal on how to improve Kelley Park. These fields are on Old Greenwood Road and also are known as the “church league fields.”
Sicard said these fields used to be a place for tournaments that would attract money to the community, as well as keep money in it. However, the city has lost those tournaments because of competition.
Sicard estimated that there are “at least 40” travel baseball teams from the Fort Smith area, which does not include all the softball teams. He said he believed they are primarily going to Northwest Arkansas, which has over 30 “turf fields,” or Conway, with them wanting the guarantee of being able to have their games despite rain.
“So what this’ll allow us to do is create a better surface area, a safer surface area, better quality play,” Sicard said. “The big thing is the guarantee for games, and then we’ll host tournaments.”
The cost estimate Sicard gave to improve four of the Kelley Park fields was about $500,000. Aldridge said the fields in question are Kuykendal, Skokos, Higgins and Flocks, which are set up for different age groups.
Aldridge said work on the proposed project would have to start in January in order to be completed by mid-March. He estimated an economic impact of slightly over $1,000 per team for a weekend. This includes money being spent on hotels, restaurants, concessions, gate fees and tournament entry fees.
After discussion, the board approved a motion to put selling the sports complex property for the current bid of $210,273 on the agenda for its regular meeting Dec. 17, with the city administration conducting an eco