Donna Thornton/News Editor
The Gadsden City Council approved an arrangement with Gadsden State Community College that will give the city access to more property near Dub Parker Park for needed soccer fields.
Mayor Sherman Guyton said getting assess to the 17 acres of property is part of an agreement that includes the city contributing $150,000 to Gadsden State’s Gateway project – a road project that will connect the East Broad Street and Wallace Drive campuses and help with traffic flow.
The project has been underway for weeks. The work made it necessary to close Corner Street and cut traffic down to one lane on George Wallace Drive for now.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, city leaders cautioned that traffic would probably be slowed in the area as students returned for classes Aug. 22, and encouraged anyone who could to take alternate routes while the road project continues.
“I think we’ll be able to get a few fields over there,” Guyton said. He said there are pine trees on some of the property that will be cut and sold.
The money will be used to help with the cost of developing the fields, the mayor said.
“A lot of the work involved can be done in-house,” Guyton said.