Sports authority sets new closing date for land that will house sports complex

Members of the Lawton Youth Sports Authority agreed Thursday to what they say will be the last extension necessary for the purchase of land for the indoor youth sports complex.

Authority members voted in March to buy 85 acres at East Gore Boulevard and Southeast 45th Street to house the complex, taking the acreage in two contracts: one with Donna Richards Cooper and James M. Cooper for 37.59 acres, and one with the Frank L. Richards Revocable Living Trust for 47.4 acres. The combined purchase price is $1 million.

Authority Chairman Brian Henry said Thursday’s amendment was the fourth time the closing date has been extended, necessary to allow completion of documentation for clear title and permission from heirs for the sale. One contract also has been complicated by the recent death of one person, although Henry said Donna Richards Cooper retains clear title to the property she owned with her late husband and that issue will be cleared with a death certificate.

The larger issue was documentation necessary to transfer ownership of the land held in the revocable trust, Henry said, explaining multiple family members must sign the documentation in person.

“Folks who need to sign are spread all over the country,” he said, adding family members are ensuring the documents get passed along for the signatures that are needed.

For those reasons, Henry asked authority members to provide two more weeks to what had initially been set as a Sept. 30 closing date in the fourth amendment agreement, meaning the new closing date will be Oct. 11.

Henry has said the tract is an ideal location for the indoor youth sports complex because infrastructure — water, sewer and roads — already are available and because the tract is directly south of MacArthur High School and East Side Park, both facilities with outdoor athletic fields. Eastern Sports Management has counseled the authority that the best location for the new indoor sports complex would be a site near existing athletic fields, to complement the basketball courts and turf fields in the indoor sports complex.

The sale eliminates another obstacle in a project that authority members have been supporting for two years.

Donna Richards Cooper also is the widow of longtime east Lawton developer Frank Richards, and she said she is supporting the project in his memory because Frank Richards would have strongly supported the idea of a youth sports complex. Cooper owns one tract, and is a trustee for the Frank L. Richards Revocable Living Trust (which owns the other). Henry said Cooper is so supportive of the idea, she is selling a tract appraised at $1 million for $505,000.

Authority members said earlier this year that buying the land will let them proceed with design plans. Henry said Thursday that authority members have begun discussions on Requests for Proposals, the process that will identify the design firm the full authority will hire to craft construction plans. Eastern Sports Management said having those shovel-ready plans will help them win grants to fund what is estimated as a $31 million project.

Funding has been identified in the City of Lawton’s Capital Improvement Program to help build that complex, but supporters also have said they plan to raise private funds and seek grants.