Murfreesboro mayor pitches 10 baseball/softball fields & aquatics center on westside

Murfreesboro's westside may gain two parks combined offering 10 baseball/softball fields, an aquatics center, trails, playground and picnic pavilions.

One of those two recreational properties is for a scaled back and relocated Blackman Park master plan on the northeast side of Veterans Parkway about a mile south of Interstate 840.

The revised $8 million Blackman Park plan on 95 acres by the Birkshire and Cloister residential subdivisions includes trails, picnic pavilions and a "destination playground" that city officials report would attract families with young children the way Kids Castle does at Old Fort Park off Old Fort Parkway.

"That is definitely going to be more of a community park," Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland said. He along with other members of the elected Murfreesboro City Council backed off previous Blackman Park plans that exceeded $40 million in estimated costs on former city property between I-840, Veterans Parkway and Blackman, Burnt Knob and Vaughn roads.

'Problem getting worse and worse': Lack of ball fields impacts leagues in Murfreesboro

In addition to pursuing Blackman Park, McFarland proposed to staff during a recent council meeting that the fast-growing city respond to the demands of sports teams and people with plans for 10 baseball/softball fields and an aquatics center on 154 acres the city owns on northside of state Route 96 (Franklin Road) about a mile west of Veterans Parkway, the city's westside boundary.

"I really urged and I think the council agreed as well that we start the planning process to get some new ball fields built out there," McFarland said. "I think it's important we go ahead and get that project on 96 moving along in conjunction with Veterans Parkway (Blackman Park). I don't want to be here 10 years from now and still having the discussion how we need more ball fields. We definitely need those in place yesterday."

The mayor also confirmed again that the city will no longer be able to count on the previously proposed private Legacy Sports to build baseball/softball fields and other sports fields off I-840 and Broad Street, which is part of U.S. Highway 41.

'People expected a park': Commercial rezoning of former Blackman Park land still resonates

City would remain below national standard even with 10 more fields

City officials have not worked on adding baseball/softball fields since reaching a count of 21 after opening Barfield Crescent Park in 2000 when the Murfreesboro population was 68,816, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Since then, the city's baseball/softball field count has dropped to 20, but fast-growing Murfreesboro has added nearly 100,000 more people.

The lack of baseball/softball fields has meant Murfreesboro Softball League Director Maggie Engle had a waiting list with more than 50 girls to play. Her league could only accommodate 53 teams this past spring sharing four fields with two teams from Central Magnet School and one from Providence Christian Academy.

"It is damaging to the leagues," said Engle, who wishes the city could build more ballfields throughout Murfreesboro than westside ones proposed by the mayor. "Ten fields is a Band-Aid on a problem."

Murfreesboro is below the National Recreation and Park Association standard of providing a baseball/softball field for every 2,500 people, which would be 65 fields for a population estimated at nearly 162,400 by the U.S. Census Bureau July 2022. The fast-growing city would need to build 45 more baseball/softball fields to reach that standard based on the previous year's estimated population.

Councilman Wright wants ball fields improved at schools

In addition to the mayor's proposal for 10 baseball/softball fields, Murfreesboro City Council member Shawn Wright suggested the local government also improve ball fields at the schools for league play. He recalled as a boy playing for a team with games at the Mitchell-Neilson schools.

"The schools would be more convenient to people in town than the park on 96," Wright said.

Prior to the mayor proposing to build 10 baseball/softball fields and an aquatics center, the city had negotiated in 2020 to sell the 154 acres to the Rutherford County Board of Education to build schools. The board offered to buy 83 acres determined to be usable for schools because the remaining property had drainage concerns. City officials, however, rejected the offer on only part of the property.

Much of the water flowing to the 154 acres travels from other side of Franklin Road on what used to be farmland owned by former Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess and his wife, Peggy, who grew up on the property. They sold 576 acres for a Del Webb Southern Harmony development plan that won Rutherford County government approval in 2020 for 1,150 homes for buyers 55 and older.

The Del Webb developers pledged that about 31 acres will be designated for detention ponds in order to slow storm water runoff, and another 33 acres are wetlands that have been incorporated into the site's overall drainage plan, according to Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission records. The planned drainage system is supposed to keep water on the proposed subdivision property for 60 hours instead of the 24 hours when the land was still part of the Burgess farm.

'Do something': Advocate wants council to build baseball/softball fields

New Blackman Park plan includes land for elementary school

The city officials previously examined a 2018 park design for the Franklin Road property from consultant Kimley Horn showing how eight baseball/softball fields could sit on the Franklin Road property along with a previous plan for an amphitheater, picnic pavilions, playground and splash pad. McFarland suggested the city could adjust the previous plans by fitting 10 baseball/softball fields on the property along with an aquatics center.

The 2018 park design on Franklin Road followed after the city considered building a soccer park at the former planned Blackman Park land to attract the Tennessee State Soccer Association tournaments and offices. The city instead improved its existing Siegel Soccer Park on the northside with synthetic fields, more bleachers, an indoor practice field and offices for the state association.

The previous Blackman Park plan that exceeded $40 million in estimated costs included eight baseball/softball fields, playground, splash pad, picnic pavilions, walking trial, amphitheater, multipurpose sports field and multipurpose courts for basketball, tennis and other sports.

Rather than returning to the previous Blackman Park plan, the city swapped this 116-acre property off I-840 and Veterans Parkway for about 150 acres about a mile south. The 150 acres had been owned by Middle Tennessee Electric. MTE seeks to market the former Blackman Park property for corporate offices.

The revised Blackman Park plan is part of the 150 acres the city acquired through the land swap. In addition to 95 acres for the park, the city has 35 acres planned for a future elementary school and 20 acres for yet-determined public/community buildings, including for public safety.

New plan for Blackman Park: Mayor McFarland, council back land swap with utility for a west-side park and school site

Mayor McFarland proposes county partnership to build aquatics center

McFarland hopes the county government can partner with the city in funding an aquatics center that would help serve Rutherford County school swim teams. The mayor recalled how the city and county teamed to build 16 outdoor tennis courts to help the county's school teams at Old Fort Park.

"The county has a lot of swim teams at the high schools," McFarland said.

Rutherford County offers pools at Riverdale, Oakland, La Vergne and Smyrna high schools. The county also serves high school students at campuses without pools at Blackman, Central Magnet, Eagleville, Holloway, Rockvale, Siegel and Stewarts Creek campuses.

The county district does not offer pools at any of the other campuses.

Demand for pools: Parents, student ask board to keep middle school swimming

The mayor previously previously proposed building an aquatics center with the county in 2017 on city land by Blackman High on the north side of Blaze Drive near Fortress Boulevard. The county instead built the recently opened Bart Smith Building that houses a westside satellite Rutherford County Clerk’s Office and new Rutherford County Express Driver Services Center.

Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr said he has not discussed the aquatics center proposal with McFarland. Carr, however, said he's open to the possibility for a center with pools that would be multigenerational in helping children, school swimming teams and senior citizens wanting to pursue aquatics classes.

"I can see a significant benefit to county residents," Carr said.

The county has an excellent relationship in working with Rutherford's four city mayors representing Eagleville, La Vergne, Murfreesboro and Smyrna, Carr said.

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. Follow his tweets on the X social media platform @ScottBroden. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

Baseball/softball field counts

• National Recreation and Park Association standard for baseball/softball fields: One per 2,500 residents

• Murfreesboro government provided fields: 20

• Murfreesboro estimated population July 2022: 162,400

• Murfreesboro fields needed to meet national standard: 65

Sources: Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne governments, and Murfreesboro 2035 Comprehensive Plan

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Aquatics center, 10 baseball/softball fields proposed in Murfreesboro