for more than a year, but Hudson said the negotiations have reached an advanced stage.
The county might provide incentives, such as water and sewer hookups and road improvements, Hutson said. But she assed that the costs would be relatively low since the county is doing a lot of that work already to serve a planned swimming center on the site. Yolanda Portis, whose grandchildren were enjoying the splashpad at Tricentennial Park on Wednesday, said the kids would love a water park nearby.
Those same drainage problems have complicated plans for a championship-level field with artificial turf and bleachers for 1,400 fans. Hudson said the county may put that off in favor of all or part of what originally was Phase 3 – five additional soccer fields and parking. That portion of the project would not require additional subsurface earthwork, she said.
Danny Corte, executive director of the Mobile Sports Authority, said soccer tournaments are big revenue generators for the cities and counties that host them. “Sports tourism is just on fire right now, and has been since the end of the pandemic,” he said. “And our trends are showing that it’s gonna continue to grow, which means millions of dollars come into your community, even on a few weekends of these kinds of tournaments.”