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School Officials Purchase Property for Sports Complex

From staff reports

It's official.

For nearly two months, school officials have been in negotiations with a local property owner to purchase some acreage adjacent to the Scott County Career and Technical.

And after Friday afternoon's real estate closing held in Bristol, Scott County Public Schools are the proud owner of an approximate 14.89-acre tract located behind the vocational school.

School officials plan to build a sports complex on the property that lies closely to the proposed 71-72 connector road and are quick to say all three county high schools will benefit from the facility.

Scott County Division Superintendent Jim Scott explained preliminary drawings have been released of the plat, which features a new baseball field, a soccer field in the middle of an eight-lane track and parking and restroom facilities.

In July following a closed session meeting, the board voted unanimously to give their attorney, John Sigmond, the authority to negotiate a purchase price through their real estate agent, Rex McCarty, with the owner of the property.

According to the minutes of the July 8 meeting, on a motion by Mr. Campbell, seconded by Mr. Templeton, with all members voting aye, the board gave the school board attorney the authority to purchase a certain 19-acre parcel of land located in the Gate City area pending satisfactory negotiations with the owner.

Speculation and rumors were swirling in the gathered hot spots of Scott County as local residents were eager to find out where and when the new facility would be built.

"The first priority for us to build on this land is a baseball field and an eight-lane track that will have a soccer field in the middle of it," Scott added.

"Of course, we will have a parking area and restrooms on site in the beginning phase as well. If we can, we will also consider adding a softball field and practice football field." The acquisition of the property is welcome to news to Gate City fans as a few years back they tried to jumpstart a similar project in the vicinity of the Moccasin Gap Interchange project. At that time, school officials and fans held a series of meetings to garner support for the proposal then they presented their wishes to the school board.

Under that plan, a sports complex was proposed to be built on property currently owned by Cozart Tobacco Warehouses. With an extremely high price tag for site prep work, the board never seriously considered the property but instructed Scott to seek additional properties that would be suitable for a sports complex.

The county has been unable to host any type of track meet or district/regional/state tournaments due to unsuitable facilities. When complete, the new complex will be accessible off the new connector road as well as from the career and technical center.

The property is located directly behind the Scott County Career and Technical Center and is involved in a battle of sorts between Gate City and Weber City officials.

Both of the towns are hoping to acquire the property through a boundary adjustment, which must be approved by the Scott County Board of Supervisors. Gate City tried to annex the area in 2004 but county leaders considered the property as having a potential economic benefit.

School officials are expected to hold a ground-breaking ceremony in the near future and should begin site preparation before the end-of-the-year.

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