Jackson considers soggy soccer situation; Park improvement projects could be funded by city's proposed use tax

With millions of players and an estimated four billion fans, soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it) is said to be the most popular sport on earth.

In Southeast Missouri, one of the most popular soccer venues is the Jackson Soccer Park, a 17-field complex on a 27-acre tract along Route PP near the town's southern city limits.

Depending on the time of year, you can often find hundreds of soccer players from throughout the region competing on the park's pitch, also known as soccer fields.

And depending on how much it rains, you can also find flooded walkways and soaked playing surfaces in parts of the park.

"We haven't had a huge amount of rain like we would in the fall and spring and you can see we have a lot of standing water," observed Jackson Board of Aldermen member Katy Liley on Tuesday as she and Jackson city engineer Anna Bergmark walked along an asphalt path that frequently floods between several of the fields.

Liley serves as a liaison between the aldermen and the Jackson Park Board and said drainage in parts of the soccer complex is something the city plans to address.

"One of the complaints from folks when they visit or when their children play here is that the fields retain a lot of water and don't drain very well," Liley said. "This is a flood plain area. You can develop in a flood plain, but you need to make sure it drains well if you're going to have kids playing here."

The drainage issue was discussed Monday night at the Board of Aldermen's study session, during which Liley said the Park Board and the Jackson Area Organized Soccer Association (JAOSA) have developed a two-phase plan to correct the soggy conditions.

"Phase one will address drainage improvements to the existing sidewalk, the northern walk leading from the parking lot, because we often have standing water along the ditch next to the sidewalk and on the sidewalk itself," Liley said. Correcting that problem, she said, will improve access to several fields on the north side of the soccer complex.

A second phase, Liley explained, will entail regrading and elevating fields 3, 4 and 5 to reduce water retention.

"Those fields can't be used very much during the year because they hold water quite a bit and they're easily rutted," she said.

Other improvements Liley and the Park Board would like to see at the soccer park include additional wheelchair-accessible walkways between fields, improved parking, a second pavilion and more field lighting (depending on their configuration, only two or three of the fields are currently lit).

Funding and next steps

As of now, there are no cost estimates for the proposed improvements, but Liley said they will be "substantial" and said the bottom line "will depend greatly on where we can get materials and donations."

Jackson city officials have indicated a portion of the city's proposed use tax, which will be on the ballot in November, will be earmarked for park improvement projects. If approved by Jackson voters, the use tax is projected to generate approximately $500,000 annually.

"Obviously, if the use tax comes into play, that would expedite things because funds would be available to make it happen," Liley said. Additional funding sources could include contributions from JAOSA, the city's Parks Department budget and a grant the city has applied for through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

"The first phase of the soccer park improvement plan could take place in the spring. If the weather cooperates, that's a possibility," she said.

From an engineering perspective, Bergmark said some of the drainage work is in a very preliminary design stage.

"At this point, I'm assisting with general ideas and suggestions about what can be done and what can't," she said, adding Strickland Engineering in Jackson "has donated some preliminary layout work" for field grading and drainage.

Between 400 and 500 youth, ranging in age from prekindergarten through eighth grade, participate in JAOSA's spring and fall seasons.

"We consistently have a healthy number of kids every year participate in soccer," said Shane Anderson, Jackson's parks and recreation director. "Soccer has been shown to have the ability to keep a higher number of kids involved and anything that will improve the drainage at the soccer park will improve park usage throughout the year."

Looking for business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.