Multi-sports complex bidding period opens; road name proposal detoured
Jul. 26—The bidding period for the long-awaited multi-sports complex is open with an Aug. 29 deadline, the Lee County commissioners learned at their Monday meeting.
"We are happy to say our bid is out to our prequalified vendors and contractors," County Manager Lisa Minter said.
The bids will be opened and read aloud on Aug. 29 at 2 p.m. in the Bob Hales Center.
But a proposal for the names of the two roads that will run through the complex had to be pulled from the agenda at the last minute.
The names, Victory Lane and Championship Road, were recommended by Joseph Keel, the county's Parks and Recreation director. McAdams civil engineering in Durham, the complex designer, has compiled a list of other options in the event there was a conflict.
Commissioner Kirk Smith told commissioners that one name had been spelled incorrectly. The second reason, he said, was a conflict with one name. Victory Drive is in use in the Willow Brooke subdivision off Petty Road.
The 115-acre complex is to have four rectangle fields, four diamond fields and an area for a playground. The plan is scaled back from the original design which included multiple designs for soccer, baseball and softball.
In 2020, Lee County voters approved a $25 million bond for the complex. However, in July 2022, the commissioners learned that the projected cost for the complex had increased to more than $60 million. Former County Manager John Crumpton encouraged the board to delay a decision for 30 days to review all options.
At the August meeting, the board agreed with a motion from Commissioner Robert Reives that the cost be kept to less than $40 million.
