Rabbits Rule The Prairie At Sports Park Site
March 14th, 2008, 1:38 pm · 8 Comments · posted by Joaquin
Scattershooting while wondering what happened, after all, to the Brownsville sports complex?
I borrow generously in using the `scattershoooting’ line from Blackie Sherrod, a legendary Dallas sports columnist, who would often bring up an athlete from the distant past in wondering whatever had happened to said sports figure of long ago.
Same goes with the sports complex. You probably have to search back in the old memory backs to recall the sports complex. `Member? With a good degree of fanfare, city officials, especially city Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, hailed the location of where the complex would be built, believing somehow that a site which is  practically in Rancho Viejo would be the ideal spot. With today’s gas prices, it’ll cost a couple of Whatburgers, at least, to get way out on Merryman Road, where the long-awaited sports complex is supposedly going to be built.
I say supposedly because nothing appears to be happening out on Merryman when it comes to the sports complex. After getting a road built into the site, it’s all quiet on the far north Brownsville sports front, with jack rabbits offering more action than actual construction. What pray tell, as the Brits would say, is the holdup?
The money for the project was secured long, long ago, (two mayors ago), when voters approved dedicating a small portion of local sales tax revenues for the constructon of a fab sports complex. It would be replete with soccer fields, baseball fields, basketball courts, diamonds for little miss kickball action, and all sorts of other fine athletic endeavors to fill the lungs of our young people with the thrill of sports and competition. There was so much money to be had, in fact, that wise heads at City Hall decided to hire an executive director to oversee development of the sports complex and related activities. To make sure a good job would be had, the wise heads coughed up a hefty salary to pay this person to make sure the dirt would fly.
And now, two presidential elections later, Brownsville is still waiting for the thing to get built. Meanwhile, in nearby Harlingen, just months after that city announced plans to build a sprawling soccer complex the by airport, that thing is going up faster than a carnvial getting ready for Charro Days. While Brownsville fiddles, Harlingen builds. Kids in Harlingen will be kicking around soccer balls before Brownsville clears the jack rabbits from the big, empty field by Merryman Road.
I checked with some of the hard-working reporter types in the local newsroom to ask what gives with the Bro-ville sports complex getting nowhere. Don’t know, they told me, saying it’s tough to get information out of City Hall these days when it comes to the sports complex to be built 15 miles north of town. Maybe it’s a design thing. Maybe it’s taking five years to get all of the bids in. Maybe it’s because Harlingen City Hall does a better job of making the trains run on time. Maybe they need to pay the executive director more money to get the project going.
Who knows. And then last week, Mayor Pat announces his latest plan of adventure, this one to sell a portion of the city-owned country club/golf course, and use part of the proceeds to buy land adjacent to the sports complex that has never been built. Mayor Pat sees a new 18-hole golf course by the sports complex that has never been built, saying it could all be a one-stop sports center.
How exciting. On the flip side: Brownsville may get another bridge before it gets the sports complex built. Oh well, there will be plenty of tournaments to be had at Harlingen’s new soccer/sports complex, and it’s not very far at all from Merryman Road.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Great questions. Another great question would be, where is the money the city recieved for the old Friendship Garden Pavillion downtown by the new bride (the old new bridge). Where did that money go, we still do not have anything that replaces that building for wildcat shows, gun shows, art shows, etc. The Joke they built up on Parades line road never seems to be big enough and they don’t have anything there that the common folk can go to. We do need to get rid of the golf course, its a loser for the taxpayer.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I’m less concerned about the frolicking bunnies at the sports park than I am about a project budget that has increased as exponentially as herds of rabbits do. How did we get from a budget of $10 million in 2003 to our latest estimate of $26 million as of two months ago? Is anyone paying attention to this completely out-of-control project? I hope someone can explain this to me before my head explodes.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
The Friendship Garden money went to the Events Center on Paredes Line Road which is larger and has more parking and better acoustics. It can host many more events than the old venue. T-Mobile located next to it because it considered it as a valuable asset to the new facility. When they do large training courses for employees they can rent a section of the Events Center. The golf course is part of the attractions that we offer to visitors to our city. When national magazines rate communities, the number of golf courses is part of the “best places to live” score card. The Brownsville Golf Center is deed restricted. It can only be a golf course. If it were to change, all the owners with golf course frontage property could sue for lessening the value of their homes. And anyone that thinks it would be cheaper to build a new golf course than to maintain the current one needs to check their figures.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I guess the point that i would like to make is that the presure put on by the opinions of the media. And the fact that they have neither the talent nor the skills to play the game at the big level. Become tired to the common fan. Take a page from Big P…
April 15th, 2008 at 1:31 am
Jack
Thanks for the blog!
April 17th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
4b board heads up the Sportplex project not the city, 4b is a non-profit corporation in charge of the project. Most of the heavy costs you cant see because it was infrastructure such as drainage, utilities, engineering, etc.. The soccer fields will be ready by August and they will be way better than Harlingen. The Brownsville Herald needs to be positive, not negative. The Brownsville herald is a big reason Brownsville gets a bad wrap. I wish smarter people ran the Herald. Hey at least the 26 million dollars will result in a great park. Where is the 21 million dollar bridge at the port. No one cares about that anymore. Go to Merryman road and see for yourself that the park is being built.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I believe the park is well under way I drive past it everyday on my way home. I live in the subdivision next to it. I am anxious to see the end results, I have children that would very much benefit from it and would also like to know if maybe just maybe a boardwalk could get built for us to walk accross to the park from our section,that we wouldn’t have to drive around.
May 7th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Thanks for writing, Mom, but why is it taking so long to build the thing? It has been four-five years now since this project was conceived.