Talk of disc golf in the air for El Dorado

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Committee will likely convene for a regularly-scheduled, monthly meeting Sept. 22 and if so, commissioners will consider an idea for a new recreational sport in El Dorado.

Last week, Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer forwarded to commissioners an email she received from an area resident who inquired about the possibility of opening a disc golf course locally.

In disc golf, players throw a plastic disc, similar to a frisbee, into metal baskets that are set up throughout an outdoor course. The object of the game is to complete the course with the fewest possible throws.

The sport has grown in popularity within the past several years, with several surrounding cities, including Camden, Magnolia and Crossett, adding disc golf to their public parks and recreation programs — a fact to which a couple of EPPC commissioners referred when replying to the email.

Last month, Camden incorporated the game into a lineup of activities that were part of The Great

Camden Outside Fun Day, a one-day event that was designed to provide safe outdoor activities for families.

A singles disc golf tournament was held at the course in Camden’s Carnes Park.

EPPC Commissioner Alexis Alexander recalled strong interest in disc golf while she was growing up in her native Shreveport, Louisiana.

“There was a disc golf course on the parkway and people were always out there playing,” Alexander said.

“I’m really open to the idea of doing more research to see if we have space or if there’s more interest in doing that here because I could see that being something that could tie our three communities together in the Golden Triangle and bring people here for that sort of thing,” Alexander said, referring to the regional nickname for El Dorado, Camden and Magnolia.

Disc golf is one of several suggestions that local residents have submitted to the EPPC over the past two years as the group has worked to draft a plan for park improvements.

Facilities for soccer and pickleball, which combines elements of tennis, ping-pong, badminton and Wiffle ball, are other ideas that have been shared by city residents.

Alexander said the EPPC is looking into those suggestions and more but efforts to finalize cost estimates for proposed improvements to city parks and draft a funding proposal to the present to the El Dorado Works Board have been derailed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Because of the public health crisis, the EPPC has not met since February.

The group had planned a regularly scheduled meeting Aug. 25 but the lack of a quorum squashed those plans and Hurricane Laura forced the cancellation of a meeting that was rescheduled two days later.

Parks and playgrounds commissioners have been working on the latest batch of proposed park improvements for nearly two years, starting with a tour of several city parks in the fall of 2018.

With public input, more site visits and extensive discussions, the EPPC eventually narrowed down its focus to adding public restrooms to at least three city parks; renovating existing restrooms/changing rooms or building new ones at the Mattocks Park swimming pool; expanding the basketball courts at Mattocks Park; resurfacing the tennis courts in Mellor Park; building a new workshop at Lions Club Municipal Golf Course; and adding picnic tables, BBQ grills, benches, pavilions and more to city parks.

On Feb. 25, Robert Edmonds, director of public works, presented bids that had come in for some components of the project, including $20,000 apiece for public restrooms and $8,000 apiece for pavilions.

Cost estimates for “no-bid items,” including benches and grills, came in at approximately $500 apiece, which includes installation, Edmonds said.

“The tennis courts, we’re still trying to get an estimate from the tennis court people,” he told commissioners in February.

Alexander said she is glad the community is continuing to provide feedback and share ideas for recreational activities at city parks.

“I’m of the opinion that having been through what we’ve been through (with COVID-19) these last six or seven months, the more things you can have for families and people to do outside, the better off your community will be, physically and mentally,” she said.

Alexander championed more community engagement in what she called “lifetime sports”, which can be played for fun and by all ages.

“We have talked about pickleball and if I’m not mistaken, that can be played on the tennis court and we’re still looking at fixing the tennis courts at Mellor Park, as well,” Alexander said. “I would love to see people in the community do a league, a kickball league or a pickleball league.”

Commissioners have said plans for such sports could be integrated into proposed upgrades for city parks, depending on costs and the outcome of a funding request that is presented to the El Dorado Works Board, which administers the city’s onecent sales tax for economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects.

Fifteen percent of revenue from the El Dorado

Works tax has been allocated for community development projects.

Of the 15%, 6% is dedicated to parks and playgrounds, including sports, recreational and outdoor venues and projects.

The temporary tax has been in effect since October of 2015 and is expected to generate at least $50 million in revenue over its 10-year life.

The city tapped into the tax to help cover costs of a major improvement and expansion project at the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex.

In 2019, the EWB and El Dorado City Council approved $2.7 million to fund the first phase of the two-part master plan.

Among the projects in phase one are two new youth soccer fields to help meet the demand for local soccer facilities and accommodate interest that has grown in the sport over the past decade in El Dorado.

The El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission chipped in more than $256,000 to help complete the soccer fields at the complex.

Crowds regularly gather at Neel Park for a community soccer league that brings in dozens of families and food vendors.

During a public hearing in 2019, league organizers told EPPC commissioners that teams from out of town have played in the league but many said they will not return to El Dorado due to the poor condition of the playing field at Neel Park and the lack of an adequate soccer facilities.