Karen Gleason
After years of discussions, fundraising and planning, work on the Del Rio Community Sports Park began in December.
Planning for the sports park – also known as the “Field of Our Dreams” – began after discussions by Del Rio City Council members of the need for more baseball, softball, soccer and football fields and practice fields for the city’s hundreds of youth athletes.
A site on the city’s northwest side, just west of a dirt baseball field known as “Crawford’s Field,” was selected as the most likely site for the placement of a sports complex that would include fields for baseball, softball, soccer and football, as well as a series of walking trails and a concession stand and restrooms.
The city obtained a $500,000 grant for the construction of the park from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the city council later voted to set aside an additional $900,000 in the city budget for the construction.
Another key piece of funding for the park came from the Del Rio community.
A series of fundraisers spearheaded by local businessmen and businesswomen raised a total of $236,800 to be donated to the effort, and additional land for the sports complex was donated.
Work on the sports complex got serious in early 2018 when the city hired the firm of Debra J. Dockery, architect, to design the layout of the proposed facility.
Requests for proposals for the construction of the sports complex were first issued by the city in mid-2019. Two proposals were received, and the bidders agreed to extend the validity of their bids until February 2020.
In March 2020, Dockery was asked by the city to modify the plans to reduce the scope of the project, and the two bids the city had previously received were formally rejected.
In July 2020, the city council approved a resolution seeking bids for construction of the complex.
The city received three construction bids in August, and in October 2020 the council approved a contract between the city and Central Builders Inc. of San Antonio in the amount of $1,665,000 for the project.
Workers with Central Builders began clearing brush at the site in December.
