D186 board members weigh sports complex developers' letter of intent. What's at stake

School District 186 board members said they will carefully weigh a letter of intent from the developers of the Scheels Sports Park at Legacy Pointe that asks for an abatement of the tax on the property on which the complex is going to be built.

The plus side for the district: its athletic teams annually would get 2,000 hours of use of the complex's facilities, which will include synthetic turf multi-purpose fields and an indoor dome housing basketball and volleyball courts.

District attorneys are going through the letter and will address board members' questions about the abatement.

Micah Miller of Subdistrict 2 said he is generally supportive of the complex, which he called "a unique opportunity for District 186, but we are keenly aware of the potential unknowns with the commitment for multiple years, extending maybe a couple of decades. We're just making sure it's the best decision for the district, for the students and we're also not overextending ourselves."

Legacy Pointe Development Company managing partner Stephen Luker addressed the board two weeks ago and tendered the letter to district counsel.

Luker has called the complex, which will go in just off MacArthur Boulevard near Interstate 72, "a generational-changing development." Ground is scheduled to be broken on the project later this summer.

Superintendent Jennifer Gill admitted the arrangement with the developers "is still very much in legal conversation with our board attorney. We'll bring that up again in open session when we get the questions answered."

The land where the developers want to build the fields generates $4,500 a year in property taxes. Only the piece where they are actually building the property would be abated, Gill said, so any other businesses and economic development projected to come would benefit the school district.

Asked how unusual it was for a school district to have a tax abatement for something, Gill said "it's not usual at all, other than through TIF districts and things like that. It's a little bit different. We have to be very careful about doing that because that's our bread and butter. We want to make sure we make the right decision."

Board president Anthony Mares said there are plenty of questions he has about the property taxes.

"That's how we pay our bills," said Mares, who plans to meet soon with Luker soon with Mil

Situation with athletic fields

Jason Wind, the executive director of school support, has talked to Luker about space needs, particularly for middle school athletics, especially baseball and softball, along with basketball and volleyball.

That conversation bridged over to high school sports, Wind said.

"Right now, our baseball and softball programs, we do have some facilities, however, when we get rain, we have numerous rainouts just due to conditions of fields," Wind said. "We're trying to make sure we have space for kids to play, especially at our freshman and junior varsity levels at those sports.

"With Robin Roberts Stadium, it's a great facility, but varsity athletes play there. At Southeast, they have a varsity field for baseball and a junior varsity baseball field, but it always needs to be taken care of by the team."

If baseball and softball teams couldn't get on the natural fields, "we could play some varsity games on the turf," he added.

The courts would help manage practice time because "there are some times we have kids practicing at 9:30, 10 o'clock at night because they can't get gym time based on the schedule," Wind said.

Metal detectors implemented

The quick explanation of how metal detectors are working in the district's high schools? It's improving.

That's the consensus from Gill, Wind and a Southeast High School junior, Passion Hood.

The board unanimously approved the purchase of the 18 CEIA Opengate units at its March 21 meeting and installed them a little over two weeks ago. The metal detectors at Douglas Prep and Lawrence Education Center will be installed later.

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"We had to obviously go through the ups and downs of having something brand new and making sure everything was installed correctly, but I think we're in a little bit of a better working process every day that goes on," Gill said.

Mike Zimmers of Subdistrict 4 asked about a pronounced problem at Springfield High School early on. Wind said the district has purchased another metal detector for the school and said the system is getting kids into schools "in a timely fashion."

Hood said violence has tamped down since the metal detectors were installed.

"I haven't seen any physical fights or arguments in I don't know how long," Hood said after the meeting. "It's pretty good now. Everyone gets into the flow. We have a pretty nice line going. It's inspiring to kids. Now you can come to school, and you don't have to worry about things like that."

The fatal stabbing of Lanphier High School senior Pierre V. Scott Jr. outside of the school on Nov. 17 led to a special school board meeting about increased security and ignited a lengthy and sometimes emotional debate over the issue.

Two days after the stabbing, students from Lanphier, Southeast, and Springfield high schools walked out of morning classes, demanding in part that the district implement more security measures.

Kamyjah A. Bias, 16, of Springfield was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and will be tried as an adult.

Arlyn Lober remembered

Arlyn Lober, Lanphier's longtime boys basketball coach and athletic director who died Thursday, was remembered with a moment of silence at Monday's meeting.

Lober went 372-198 at Lanphier, guiding the Lions to nine City Tournament championships, a third-place finish in the 1963 state tournament and a fourth-place state finish in 1971. He also served as athletic director.

Gill insisted the "Lober-Nika" name would stay on the gymnasium even as Lanphier goes under a major renovation.

Bob Nika played for and coached with Lober before succeeding him as the Lanphier coach in 1974.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: School District 186 weighs offer from sports complex developer