- The Fields at 17 Springs is a new 200 acres sports complex in Millbrook, Alabama, with a variety of sports fields and a large field house.
- Installation should be a boon of the local economy, attracting sports tourism for young people and creating jobs.
- It will be used by public schools in the County of Elmore and should attract sports tourism for young people in the region.
- The complex is a collaboration between the city of Millbrook, the County of Elmore, the County School Board of Elmore, the YMCA and the Elmore County Economic Development Authority.
Millbrook – The figures are narcotic, but the expected impact is just as impressive.
The fields of 17 Springs, a sprawling sports complex off the Alabama 14 in Millbrook, held the opening of phase 2 Tuesday afternoon. The $ 100 million project covers approximately 200 acres and includes a 5,500 seats football stadium with track, softball and baseball, pickleball fields and a “field” of 86,000 square feet.
Donors predict that the installation will be “a generational change” for sports for young people and amateurs, not only for Millbrook and Elmore County, but for the region and the state as a whole.
“Wow, another level for the city of Millbrook,” said Mayor Al Kelley when opening. “Wow, another level for the County of Elmore. Wow, another level for the center of Alabama and the state of Alabama. “”
The public schools of the County of Elmore will use the complex for practice and competition. The football stadium is the new home law of the Mustangs of the Stanhope Elmore High School. There are six diamonds for baseball and softball, four fields of versatile lawn, 12 tennis courts, 12 pickleball fields and walking and cycling tests.
He is waiting to organize sports tournaments of all kinds, targeting all age groups.
The centerpiece, however, is the country house, which is exceeded on the site. He looks enormous with the highway, but you have to enter inside to get the real range. There is the ground floor, concessions, changing rooms, meeting rooms.
Think of a smaller version, but not much, from the multiplex of the city of Montgomery. The host field of wrestling matches? Of course. Volleyball tournaments? You Betcha. But it can also be used for craft shows, business exhibitions and any other activity that could benefit from a climate -controlled place.
It is a common saying among experts in economic development that tourist dollars go seven times to a community, and youth sports tourism is large dollars and large companies. Ask any parent of an athletically inclined child, and he will tell you that he is going all year round. It’s still the baseball season, the volleyball season or football or the football season. And if your local city or your school has no sports organization for a given period of the year, there are travel teams.
More:Millbrook to build an extended sports complex of $ 35 million and 120 acres
The wider site seems to be known to be known as simple “17 springs”. Just outside the complex is a strip of land nicknamed “The market at 17 Springs” which offers a site for hotels and restaurants and other companies who wish to take advantage of the expected crowd.
This means jobs, investments and sales tax collections. This means a training effect that will be felt far from the grass, and the dirt and artificial play surfaces of 17 springs. It is more than 47 bathrooms and two and a half miles of concrete in the form of sidewalks.
What all this means on the effect on cash registers and government budgets and the quality of life will probably not be known “… for decades to come,” said the chairman of the Comté d committee ‘Elmore, Bart Mercer.
More:The Selma Barbecue restaurant named one of the best in the United States
Oh, and the name 17 Springs? This comes from the number of fluid springs on the package.
To remove everything, a not so minor miracle occurred with support and funding. There are five entities totaling the burden: the city of Millbrook, the Committee of the County of Elmore, the Board of Directors of the County of Elmore, the YMCA of the Grand Montgomery in the form of the Grandview there as a local location and Elmore County Economic Development Authority.
Superintendent Richard Dennis nicknamed the groups “Our Dance Partners”. With the success of such an important effort, the bases being successfully laid, he asked: what future plans can occur?
Contact the journalist from Montgomery Reporter Marty Roney tomrroney@gannett.com.
