In his travels across the state, Iola Mayor Steve French occasionally makes note of how other communities have invested in their sports facilities.
“Just go south to Chanute and look at their ball diamonds, and look at what other communities are pouring into their sports complexes,” French said at Monday’s Iola City Council meeting.
French’s comments were sparked by conversations he’d had with a handful of local parents in recent days, wondering if it’s time for Iola to consider an upgrade.
“When you look at our soccer fields, and our baseball diamonds, they’re all down here in ‘the bowl,’ down by the river, where we get flooding,” French continued. “And you have to consider what could you, what should you, invest in that situation.”
With that in mind, French hopes to get a citizens task force in place to look at Iola’s sports facilities.
“I’ve already talked to a few citizens,” he said, and received positive feedback.
“I’d like to have the task force look at our sports complex to decide what is the best approach to bringing them up to state-of-the-art.”
One of the committee’s key charges would be to seek private support.
“Rather than citizens asking what the government can do for us, let’s go back to our local industries and private investors and alumni, maybe those who have moved away and who might want to come back and make an investment in our community,” he suggested.
Ideally, a City Council member would take part in discussions as well, French offered.
French noted his weekend discussions coincided with — but independent of — comments at Monday’s meeting by former Councilman Ron Ballard, who was critical of how Iola’s ball diamonds were prepared for a youth baseball tournament.
Nevertheless, the tournament was well attended by families across the state, French said.
“It would be nice to have us a local destination place,” French concluded.
Anyone interested in serving on the task force is encouraged to reach out to French at steve.french@cityofiola.com
