Republic set to build new practice fields next to police station

The city of Republic is set to create new practice facilities for soccer according to Garrett Cline, the Superintendent of Recreation in Republic. The soccer fields, which will be located just north of the police station, will not be open for public use year round, but is intended to be take some stress off of the other practice facilities in the area and provide a more centralized location for practices to be held.

"The need to move soccer practices to one location is to preserve existing parks and to provide additional practice spaces,” said Cline who presented the idea at the July 18 Republic City Council meeting.

Cline said that the new facilities will not require any construction work apart from filling in of some low points and the painting of lines on the grass.

As of now, there is a lot of stress on the parks in the area, said Cline. The field availability in the current parks is limited, on top of that, the field at Jackson Street Park is prone to flooding, which makes field space even more coveted and can damage the grass if practiced on while wet. These new practice areas will hope to alleviate the strain on the parks and make sure that there is a centralized location for teams to congregate.

"The ease of access and ease of communicating a single location for league participants should be much more efficient,” said Cline.

Though not available year round to the public, they will be open in the spring and fall for citizens to enjoy. Members of Republic's soccer leagues can reserve the fields for practice at no cost. The city of Republic obtained the area through a land lease involving Larry Lipscomb that required no fee, which means these new fields won't hurt the wallet of the taxpayer either.

Though the timeline on the fields' finish is unknown, it is not expected to take long to complete once work begins.