The Franklin County Fiscal Court took the next step in moving forward with the Lakeview Park Master plan during its special meeting last Tuesday, April 1st, 2025. This bold action followed the example set by a previous court 34 years ago. A motion to purchase The Carter Farm, for $975,000, passed on June 14, 1991.
This property consisting of just over 133 acres would eventually become what is now known as Lakeview Park. The county made a $100,000 down payment on the property and then executed a mortgage with Farmers Bank & Capital Trust Co. for the remaining amount. At the time, the Fiscal Court was led by Judge Bob Arnold. District 1 Magistrate Jean Demerson, District 2 Magistrate Carmello Benassi, District 3 Magistrate Howard Dawson, District 5 Magistrate Jennie Smither, and District 6 Magistrate J.W. Luttrell voted in favor of purchasing the farm. District 4 Magistrate Harold Robinson was the only member to oppose the motion.
On Tuesday, the court voted to approve the phase 1 bid proposals. The 3 bid packages were presented by Jim Codell and Wes Davis of Codell Construction. This action by the court is the final step necessary prior to groundbreaking for this transformational project.
The Lakeview Park Phase 1 project will consist of 7 new softball fields. This will include one 4-plex and one 3-plex. The fields will be built to NCAA regulation size. That means that they can be used for any women’s softball game up to the collegiate level. The fields will also be suitable for use by youth baseball teams up to the 9-12-year-old level.
During the weekends the new complex will be scheduled for regional and national tournaments. This will help spur economic development in our community. However, they will be available for local team use during the week and any weekend when tournaments are not scheduled.
Demolition of the current softball complex will begin around the first of June. The entire project is estimated to take around 16 months to complete. Stay tuned as we post more exciting news about these new facilities.
