The city of Jennings is eyeing the old Jennings Elementary School property at the corner of Florence Street and East Academy Avenue to expand the city’s recreational program.

The 27 acre site, which is currently owned by the Jeff Davis Parish School, has sat vacant since the former school was demolished last year. The property was appraised at $785,000, according to Superintendent John Hall.

On Thursday, Mayor Henry Guinn discussed options for expanding the sports facilities, including rearranging existing fields and acquiring additional property for the city’s parks and recreation program.

“We know we need land and the land y’all own is touching the land that we own and we have been using it through a partnership for many years and we hope to continue that,” Guinn said. “However, if you look at the complex, there is not enough room to expand the football or soccer fields.”

He said the city intends to build three soccer fields and put football fields inside them.

“We do not have a definitive layout, but we have met with two architects to come up with plans that fit the city of Jennings,” he said.

It would likely take three to five years before the city could acquire the property, finalize plans, hire engineers and see any construction underway, he said.

In the meantime, Guinn wants to engage with the school district and other stakeholders to find the best solution for the community, including exploring cost-effective solutions for expanding the facilities.

“We are not in a big rush and we want to do it right,” Guinn siad. “We want to design something that is practical to build and affordable to maintain so we are not in a big rush.”

He said any plans are premature until the city hires a professional to draw the plans and get a cost estimate on what is affordable to the city.

Guinn feels the city could build a facility under $10 million without having to ask voters to approve a tax millage or sales tax to maintain the facilities. However, anything $15-$18 million would likely require some type of tax support, he said.

The city currently pays 100 percent of the cost of recreation from the general fund.

He said the city has looked at multiple properties, including city owned and acquiring of new property, and the best fit for the city would be expanding on East Academy where most of the city’s sports assets are located.

Some school board members expressed concerns about what the project would mean for students who currently use the facilities. Hathaway and Lacassine are among the schools which use the city’s recreation facilities for practice and games.

“Our first priority is to take care of our schools and we have quite a few schools which use the tennis courts and sports fields,” board member David Doise said.

Hall said if the city gets the property he would not want to see any less participation from schools than those that currently use it.

“If the property is sold we want to continue that partnership and allow schools to use the facilities when needed,” Hall said.

Board member Summer Lejeune also wants to see that students continue to have access to the baseball fields, tennis courts and other facilities.

“I do not see there being anyone, including myself, who would deny a student or school to use our facility,” Guinn said.

Guinn said the city is interested in acquiring the property and is willing to do whatever it takes to acquire the property including creating a centrally located parishwide parks and recreation facility designed for a ball fields, swimming pool and a gym which would likely require a parishwide property millage or sales tax to sustain the investment.

“But I think if the right people get in a room and have the right conversations, the skies would be the limit for Jeff Davis Parish,” he said.