Sports complex planned for Aromas
Sports complex planned for Aromas
Aromas children have had no place to play sports for as long as anyone can remember, according to one parent. There is a small, one-half acre playground attached to the elementary school, but if kids wanted to play soccer, little league or flag football, they had to go to one of the nearby surrounding cities.
Now after more than a decade in the works, plans are finally coming together to get the A. R. Wilson Community Park Sports Complex off the ground.
Plans for the park call for a 17-acre parcel complete with two soccer fields, two baseball diamonds, restrooms, a snack bar and spectator stands. The planning commission has approved the $600,000-$800,000 project.
“There is no park in Aromas,” said Janet Montgomery, a resident of Aromas. “There is the town square park, but that’s maybe 10,000 square feet. There’s also the playground at the school, but it’s less than one acre. We’re hopeful that the school will be able to use the park, too.”
The town of Aromas has a population of 2,800 people and roughly one-third of that population is under the age of 20.
Organizers are trying to get the word out now to let people know that the project is still in the works.
“When they first started out, a lot of people were really excited for the project,” Tony Guaracha said. “Then at some point the town kind of lost hope or interest since there was no movement. We’re trying to get people excited again because this is going to happen.”
Guaracha and his friends wanted people to see that there was movement on the project, which is why they had the idea for an upcoming fundraiser. Their thought was that the proceeds could be put to work immediately to show people that the project is moving ahead.
Guaracha got involved with the project after talking with some friends who live in Aromas and hearing them talk about how long this park has been in the works.
“I was listening to a band play in Aromas at an event and I thought maybe we could use them for a fundraiser,” Guaracha said.
Granite Rock donated the money for the purchase of the land as a grant, but now that the land is secured the organizers are trying to generate money to begin construction.
Volunteers have collected $100,000 through a one-time grant, and they have $50,000 in the bank. They are hoping to get half of the project’s costs donated, but the remainder of the costs will be collected through fundraising and writing additional grants.
“Because Aromas sits in three counties, we kind of feel like we get underserved by three counties,” Montgomery said. “We want kids to be able to play in Aromas.”
The fundraiser is set for Saturday, March 31 at the Aromas Grange Hall; there will be a silent auction and music from the Aromas Ramblers. Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are $48 per person.
Patrick O’Donnell can be reached at
po*******@pi**********.com
