Officials ready to begin designs for indoor sports complex

Youth sports officials are proceeding with plans to design a new indoor youth sports complex in Lawton.

Members of the Lawton Youth Sports Trust Authority approved a contract with Eastern Sports Management (ESM) in late January to oversee that design process, an agreement that also would allow ESM to act as the project manager, said Trust Authority Chairman Brian Henry. ESM President John Wack has said having design plans in hand is important because it will make Lawton’s applications for grant funding more attractive, a process that will help provide funds for construction of the $35 million building.

That design project is moving closer to a beginning, as the trust authority made plans to sign a purchase agreement with the Frank L. Richards Trust for 40 acres of land near Eastside Park near MacArthur High School in East Lawton. That land, along with 39 acres to be leased to the authority by Lawton Public Schools, will allow specific design plans to begin, trust authority members said.

Acquiring such a large amount of land also has allowed the project to expand. While the initial focus had been on the indoor sports complex, design plans now will include what had been discussed for future expansion: outdoor athletic fields.

“We need to design the whole thing,” Henry said, adding that will provide “shovel ready” designs for the entire area while still allowing Lawton to build the complex in phases, as money becomes available.

EMS already has done some footwork on the project, Henry said, about work to explore concepts for the indoor facility as well as five major fields that can be divided into smaller playing areas.

Design development, which will take about two months to complete, is to cost $401,589, with the full cost to create construction designs projected at $1.229 million.

Architects have set rough estimates on the indoor complex at $35 million, with another $25 million projected to build out five full field complexes ($5 million per complex).

Henry said the estimated time to complex the complex is 705 days, meaning if work continues and city officials can launch the project this year, architects say outdoor fields could be ready for play by Spring 2027, with the indoor complex completed later that year.

But, that means identifying funding for all remaining costs and officials said that exploration has begun. The 2019 Capital Improvements Program identified up to $8 million for the indoor youth sports complex, but the CIP Extension approved by voters last August removed that cap. While Eastern Sports Management has been exploring grant options, Henry said the city also is looking at a grant that could provide $1 million to $1.5 million for infrastructure.

“That’s why we need the drawings,” said Ward 8 Councilman Randy Warren, a member of the trust authority.