Council to look at $705K funding request

The El Dorado City Council will consider a $705,000 funding request during a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. today in the Council Chamber of City Hall.

Robert Reynolds, chairman of the El Dorado Works Board, is on the agenda to present the request for improvements to Memorial Stadium (up to $700,000) and architectural services to come up with a design for a new sign at the entrance of South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field ($5,000).

If approved by the council, funding for the stadium would go toward the construction of a two-tiered press box on the west side of the stadium and upgrades to the west bleachers to better accommodate visitors with physical disabilities.

The stadium is owned by the city and leased by the El Dorado School District for a nominal fee. The school district operates and maintains the 71-year-old facility.

The El Dorado Airport Commission is exploring options for a new sign to better promote SARA.

The existing will have to be relocated to make way for a highway widening project that is planned for U.S. 82 by the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

Members of an ad hoc committee previously cited the need for professional, architectural services to design the new sign and reported that the cost to hire local firm CADM Architecture, Inc., would be $5,000.

Mayor Frank Hash subsequently presented the funding request to the EWB, which administers the city’s one-cent sales tax for economic development.

The board approved the requests Aug. 14 and will forward them to the city council for a final decision.