Ninety Six decides on design plan for new Boozer complex
Ninety Six’s sports teams will have a new home soon, and on Thursday town council voted in support of a design plan for the new J.C. Boozer Recreation Complex.
The complex, nestled in the south end of town at 4202 Ninety Six Highway, has three baseball fields, a picnic shelter and a playground for the community’s youth. The design concept town officials supported on Thursday would add a fourth baseball field, and nestle soccer fields of different sizes in the outfields of each baseball diamond.
The Boozer field’s upgrades are part of the larger renovation and expansion of county athletic facilities, a project approved under the 2016 Captial Projects Sales Tax referendum. Overall, the project calls for $10,723,817 dedicated to improvements at Young Park in Ware Shoals, the J.C. Fox Boozer Complex and the Willbanks Sports Complex, to be located at the former site of the Greenwood Civic Center.
About $1,075,000 have been funded toward the total project, and in phase one about $75,000 is going to repairs and renovations in Ware Shoals, with about $1 million to the Boozer complex, CPST Coordinator Josh Skinner said. The remaining funds are expected to come in April 2022, as part of phase two and funding the Willbanks complex.
“The initial plan with the Boozer complex was to add a baseball field and make it into a diamond, with all four home plates at the center,” Skinner said. “The big final change after we had a public meeting in Ninety Six was finding a way to fit in some soccer fields.”
Ninety Six Mayor Mike Rowe said while softball and baseball teams use the facility heavily, soccer players didn’t have a regulation-style field to practice or play in.
“That’s a sport that has grown a lot over the past couple of years, as it’s been revived in Ninety Six,” he said. “They really need a field to play on. They’ve been having to travel to Greenwood to play games.”
The plan also includes more than 130 parking spaces and lowering the playground to meet the existing asphalt level for ADA access.
Of the four initial concepts presented by ADC Engineering, two were out of the county’s price range, Skinner said. After presenting the plans in Ninety Six and getting feedback, the plan that town council would later approve became a fast favorite for many.
This design is still a little over budget, Skinner said, and officials are working to find where they can trim some cost off the project. ADC will present the final cost estimate and construction plan to Greenwood County Council on Sept. 1, but before council approved anything, Skinner said they wanted the support of Ninety Six’s leaders.
Rowe said the design serves the immediate needs of the people who use the Boozer complex already, and allows for some growth for existing sports programs. He said he hopes future funding will allow the town to expand sporting facilities further with additional space, ideally to include a football field.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Aug 17, 2020
By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com
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