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The city of Northport plans to build sports complex off Rose Boulevard. (Photo by Jesse K. Kelley)

By Jesse K. Kelley

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- The city of Northport has announced the development of a masterplan to build youth baseball, softball, soccer, and a water park on Rose Boulevard.

            Mayor of Northport Bobby Herndon said, “many people mistake Northport just to be a suburb of Tuscaloosa, and we are hoping to change that with this sports complex.” City officials have been recently constructing a masterplan that would survey the land, recruit contractors, and gather an overall price tag on how much this process would cost for the city of Northport. Herndon and city officials have paid much attention to the success at Sand Mountain Sports Complex in Albertville, Ala. “We all look at a place like Albertville and just get all excited about what can happen down here in Northport,” said Herndon.

            Herndon continually stressed about how much the complex being built on Rose Boulevard would further grow Northport. “The site of construction will be on Rose Boulevard, that is not a high traffic area, or they’re not a lot of our residents that live out there, so we as a city believe that will space out Northport, and sort of force that side of town to grow,” said Herndon.

            Parker James, assistant tournament director of Perfect Game USA was more than willing to stress the growth of Perfect Game into west Alabama. Perfect Game is a nationally known travel baseball company that would be a top advocate for a sports complex in Northport since they would continually rent out the complex to host their nationally known prep-baseball tournaments. “Whenever you put a youth complex near kids that love baseball, softball, and soccer, I most definitely believe it is a great idea to build a youth complex,” said James. Perfect Game USA has advocated for a youth complex in either west or south Alabama. Brooks Brymer, statistical analyst, and field manager for Perfect Game also pointed out the importance of expanding Perfect Game into west Alabama.  “If there was a well-known complex in Northport, would that not only draw all local children to want to compete in our tournaments, but since Northport is so close to the Mississippi state line, there would most definitely be an influx of Mississippi kids and teams playing ball in Northport,” said Brymer.

            All three men advocated on how each of their sides would be more than willing to communicate with surrounding restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and other necessary needs for travel during the height of complex use, which would be from around the last week of May until the first week of August. James noted on how Perfect Game would send a detailed description of which months, weeks, and even days would be busier than others for surrounding businesses. “A schedule for the year is posted well in advance so thar businesses know when to be ready for a large amount of people to be in town,” said James.

Mayor Bobby Herndon wants to have a park that tourists and community alike can enjoy. (Photo courtesy of cityofnorthport.org)

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(Word Count 551)

(Bobby Herndon-205-242-1002)

(Parker James-205-574-9436)

(Brooks Brymer-205-908-4244)