PADUCAH - At their meeting Wednesday night, the McCracken County Sports and Tourism Commission approved a $231,000 contract with a local architectural firm to begin designing a new sports complex.

The meeting was held on Zoom, with the commission hearing from Jeff Canter, Vice President of Peck, Flannery, Gream and Warren, who gave an overview of the scope of their work and introduced other firms who will partner with them through the process.

Services provided by PFGW includes three phases:

1. Research and analysis, where they would gather information on several potential sites chosen by the commission, leading to the recommendation of a site for the complex.

2. Schematic design, where they will determine what sports and programs can fit on the site and work best to meet the commission's goals, and estimate the associated costs. 

3. Master plan, where the schematics are fully developed and presented to the commission and the public.

Pros Consulting of Indianapolis will help in the schematic design phase, providing expertise in site selection and facility operation. Hitchcock Design Group of Naperville, Illinois will add their specialty of landscape architecture. Bacon Farmer Workman of Paducah will provide civil site design related to storm water, utilities and access. 

Canter said their preparation has included some preliminary visits and fact-gathering related to potential sites, and, "we've hit the ground running and have pretty good 'leg up,' already."

His preliminary schedule includes 8 weeks for research and analysis, but that may change based on current travel restrictions. It's followed by an estimated 8 weeks for the schematic design phase, and 6 weeks to develop the master plan. That's a total of 5-1/2 to 6 months, putting the plan in the commission's hands by the end of the year. 

Canter said, "Thank you for selecting our team to be a part of this project. This is an exciting project for our community, and we're happy to be involved as a part of this community."

Soccer, baseball and softball have been the sports mentioned most often during discussions of a sports complex. 

The commission is funded by 3 percent of a transient room tax that was passed last year by the McCracken Fiscal Court. 

On the Net:

Sports and Tourism Commission Meeting May 20, 2020