Sports complex committee mulls over consulting firms’ pitches

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - The Jonesboro A&P Commission is heading towards the next step in its planning stages of the new sports complex.

The Sports Complex Subcommittee met Tuesday, Jan. 25th to listen to two consulting firms’ pitches on how they would plan to build and maintain the facility.

Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Hodges said Eastern Sports Management and Sports Facilities Companies brought key ideas to the table, but there were many questions left unanswered.

Hodges added the subcommittee will take feasibility study samples from each company to determine who is fit for the job.

“We meet again in a couple of weeks,” Hodges said. “We’ll take that additional information, and if our committee is prepared at that point to select one of these feasibility consulting firms, we will present that to the A&P commission as a recommendation from our subcommittee.”

The study will mimic the size of the Jonesboro community to get a more accurate idea of how each firm plans to execute its ideas.

Hodges mentioned the subcommittee will examine both companies with a fine-toothed comb to make the decision that will benefit the project long term.

“The planning—that’s the basis and the support of what this thing will look like for years and years to come,” he said. “We need to get it right. We got to have the right sizing of the facility; we need to present the right activities.”

There is no set date on when the sports complex will move on to the construction phase.

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