When Oconee County Commission Chair John Daniell last week outlined spending proposals for a renewed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), he noted the $24 million designated for Parks and Recreation would not include a gymnasium at the new Dawson Park.,
Phase 1 of the project, he said, which would be funded by the new SPLOST if voters approve it in May, would include 10 sports fields and nearby parking, road infrastructure, and be “pad ready for the gymnasium,” Daniell said.
The commissioners in January discussed the possibility of selling bonds to be retired by SPLOST revenue, rather than wait on the 1 percent sales tax to generate the needed monies, to move that phase of the project along quickly.
Daniell and at least some other members of the Commission feel the need for the gymnasium is great and immediate, however, and the county is exploring a way to help make that happen.
At a meeting early last month, the county’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA), on which Daniell sits, continued to discuss using its resources to develop sports tourism in the county and possibly help bring the gymnasium online more quickly.
Daniell said at the IDA meeting that the current estimates are that it will cost between $25 and $30 million to build the gym with its eight basketball courts.
Infrastructure Shown
Daniell led the members of the IDA through a large version of the master plan for Dawson park at its meeting on Oct. 3. He had presented that plan to the Board of Commissioners a few days earlier (Sept. 30).
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| Courtney Bernardi, Daniell, Toole, Brian Brodrick, Rick Waller, Haygood (L-R) 10/3/2023 |
Those plans show two entrances to the park, one off Rocky Branch Road and the other off Plantation Drive.
The second entrance off Plantation Drive leads to a County Services Building, which is included in Phase I of the Dawson Park project.
There is some urgency to construction of that facility.
The county sold the Government Annex on SR 15 on the south of Watkinsville for $1.9 million in July of 2023 and vacated the main building that month, but the sale stipulated that the county could lease two other buildings on the site, the facilities shop and the Water Resources Department field services building, until a replacement facility is built at Dawson Park.
The agreement stipulated that the county would lease the two buildings for $8,000 per month.
At its meeting last week (Nov. 4), the Board extended that lease, at a cost of $8,500 per month.
Chuck Neely, who lives on Plantation Drive at the entrance leading to the proposed County Services Building, appeared before the Board at its meeting on Tuesday (Nov. 4) and expressed concern about the traffic and asked the Board to consider other options to what is being proposed.
Sports Tourism
The IDA began discussing the promotion of sports tourism as a possible activity that falls under its purview at its meeting on Aug. 1.
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| Dawson Park Site Development Plan (Click To Enlarge) |
At the IDA meeting on Oct. 3, Daniell said the county was working with Kemper Sports to help the county identify the economic benefits of sports tourism.
Included in the study would be the number of hotel rooms that could be filled, he said.
“Will it give an overall economic number?” County Attorney Daniel Haygood asked.
“That is part of the data that says this is really for economic development,” he added. “That it will generate jobs. You almost have to look at this facility like it’s a plant,” he said, referring to Dawson Park and the gym.
“It’s going to employ people. It's going to generate income. It’s going to bring people into the county. It does all the things that economic development supposed to do. And in a less impacted way.”
Costs Of Gym
“Once we get pricing here, or estimates,” Daniell said at the Oct. 3 meeting, “that's going to be the big question to the community because they're throwing out numbers of $25 to $30 million right now.”
“We don't have the money sitting there,” he said. “And that's going either have to be some kind of lease purchase program or bond.”
“I think if we head toward a sport tourism focus,” he said. “We’ll have to have help. We just don't have the experience. So it would be some type of help.”
“So if we head that direction,” he said, “we still have priority. So Parks and Rec calls and says I need this many fields for soccer. That would be reserved. Whatever was left could go to the travel teams or to tournaments.”
Time Line
Daniell said he expected construction for the first phase of Dawson Park “will go to bid in the second quarter of 2026.”
The architect will turn the gym after work on the first phase is finished, he said.
“That's going to be a huge discussion,” he said.
Daniell said he expects construction of the first phase–the 10 fields, parking, roadway, and services building–to be completed in 2027.
Role Of IDA
Daniell said an investment from the IDA would make the "difference between turf and synthetic” for the 10 fields included in the first phase of the park.
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| Daniell 10/3/2025 |
“That’s a no brainer,” IDA Chair Brock Toole responded. “That's something I think is a very, very good investment.”
The IDA has a $5.2 million Fund Balance resulting from the sale of the Post Office and of the Gateway properties, fees from bond issuances, and interest revenue.
“Once we get some more numbers,” Daniell said, “we'll probably get back together when we’ve got a better idea of what kind of impact an investment from this group would make. And then just kick it around.”
“Hopefully we'll have our economic impact done in the next couple weeks,” Daniell said. “So maybe we'll get together in 1st of December, January.”
Daniell said the group might bring in people from other counties or cities that have invested in sports tourism to talk with the IDA.
Video
The video below is of the entire meeting of the Industrial Development Authority held at the Oconee County Administrative Building north of Watkinsville.
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