Yazoo County officials are seeking to potentially establish its own recreational facility that would be owned, operated and managed by the county.
Jose Arellano with Pryor and Morrow, a firm of architects, engineers and interior designers, appeared before the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors this week to discuss compiling a master plan for a county-owned recreational complex.
Arellano recently visited with Tim Mood, director of the county economic development district, to view a number of parcels that county is considering to construct a recreational facility. Two of those locations include parcels along Highway 3 and the old airport property behind the Yazoo County Fairgrounds.
“You have some grants for potential assistance, and you have some property that I have seen,” Arellano said. “We can assist in finding the right location, finding the right phasing of the project and assisting as much as we can on finding some funding for the project. We would fill in the gaps wherever the county needs us to so we can have a complete project.”
The Pryor Morrow firm has assisted several districts, counties and municipalities with a variety of plans and designs. Most recently, the firm assisted the city of Louisville with its recreational facility following a tornado.
Arellano said for Yazoo County to have a successful complex, the project needs at least ten acres.
“We really want something inside the county,” said Supervisor Cobie Collins. “We are all getting to the age where we have grandkids. We want to utilize what we have in Yazoo County to generate things. Recreation is a big part of what Yazoo County has as far as hunting and fishing, that type of stuff. We are not utilizing what we could be making if we had complex that could pull in tournaments and more.”
Collins said if the county develops its own county-owned recreational complex, it would pull its participation and funding from the Yazoo Parks and Recreation Commission.
“We are limited somewhat with what complex (Wardell Leach Recreational Complex) we have,” Collins said. “We have been talking about this for two to three years.”
Also, there has been tension between city and county leaders in relation to the parks and recreation commission.
County leaders said they wish to work with Pryor and Morrow to develop a master plan that can be ready to share when it comes time for grant applications.
