Payson considers new pool, ballpark

PAYSON — Irena Scott is new to Payson, but has jumped into local politics with a petition asking for a new pool and recreation center.

Those were options the City Council considered when it ripped out its century-old horse racing track more than a year ago. Instead, it opted for more ball fields with the first set of four nearing completion on the north end of the former track.

Residents are disheartened with the lack of progress for a new pool and recreation center. Some residents drive to Spanish Fork to use the pool there, Scott said.

The Payson city pool, though still in use, is no longer adequate and should be replaced, say some current council and former council members.

"You wouldn't believe Spanish Fork residents used to come here when they didn't have a pool," Mayor Bernell Evans said.

"A recreation committee is working on it and will make recommendations to the council," City Councilwoman Colleen Jacobson said.

The committee is deciding what should go in a new recreation-pool complex, how much it is likely to cost and from where the funding will come.

City leaders are still trying to resolve the ballpark issue; the city is selling the old Hillman Field, now dubbed Orchard Hill Ballpark, to the Woodbury Corp., which is planning to build a shopping center on the land. Some of the infrastructure and a theater has already been constructed in a former gravel pit next to Orchard Hill Ballpark and its half dozen fields.

Woodbury Corp. is to replace the six fields with new fields — or something comparable — at the former Payson Downs, now called Gene Hillman Recreation Complex. The agreement with the city is to spend $925,000 to replace those fields, City Administrator Andy Hall said. Woodbury is anxious to close on the deal because it wants to bring in a tenant, Hall said.

City leaders want to move ahead as well. They have directed staff to prepare a polished plan for the city's ballparks, which would total 10. Some of the ballparks could have lighting for night play and allow for more activity among youth and adult city leagues. They would also include fields for soccer and women sports.

The first set of four ball fields will be ready for play by September, while the rest of the fields may not be ready until early 2006, Hall said. The city needs to make final plans for the remainder of its ball fields in the next three weeks or it could lose the Orchard Hill fields before replacement fields are ready.