Times Picayune, September 03, 2009
Will eastern New Orleans be the home of a theme park again, and the site of a new sports complex?
I recently sat in a standing-room only public meeting at St. Maria Goretti Church, presented by the Eastern New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Commission. The featured topic was the Big League Dreams Sports Complex that City Councilman Arnie Fielkow is supporting.
While the former Jazzland/Six Flags site is a potential home for the complex, Fielkow said that a 100-acre eastern New Orleans site owned by John Cummings is also an option.
Pat Kight, director of new park operations for Big League Dreams, said the sports center would deliver a positive economic impact to eastern New Orleans and the entire city. He said Big League Dreams operates nine recreational sports complexes throughout the country, and a 10th is set to open at the end of the year in Las Vegas.
Kight said it takes about a year to build a sports complex. He said his company is best known for building baseball stadiums that replicate major league sites.
Kight said the complexes vary by city, and typically offer baseball, softball, soccer, indoor soccer, in-line hockey, basketball, flag football and volleyball. He said the sites also offer an arcade and batting cages as well as recreation space.
Fielkow said this proposed project is near and dear to his heart, since he was an avid baseball player when he was growing up.
State Sen. Ann Duplessis said she recently visited the sports complex in Texas and was blown away.
A water park is proposed for the site, and Melanie Thomas, president of the Kingswood subdivision shared her family’s vacation experience at the Hawaiian Falls Water Park in Mansfield, Texas. Thomas said the city needs this project.
Fielkow said an added attraction to the New Orleans sports complex would feature the history of the Negro Baseball League. He also presented a photograph of the “Secret 9″ baseball team, sponsored by Louis Armstrong.
Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson shared her enthusiasm for the project, noting that next month the city council will pay tribute to Herbert Simpson, a New Orleanian who played in the Negro League.
Councilwoman Cynthia Willard Lewis said eastern New Orleans was the only spot in the city for such a complex.
The meeting was packed with area residents and public officials, including state representative Austin Badon Jr., Assessor Erroll Williams, The Rev. Robert Brown, The Rev. George Darby Jr., Sherman Copelin, Bruce Watts, Roland Doucette, Lavon Wright, Ed Blouin, Rise Williams, Cheryl Diggins, Cathy Charbonnet, Ira Thomas, Linda St. Martin-Scott, Dennis Scott, Tanzie Jones, Tangeon Wall, Jerrelda Drummer Sanders, Sylvia Sceneaux Richard, Debbie DeGruy Gordon, and Rep. Roy Morrell of Baton Rouge.
