Successful Grand Opening of Culpeper's New Sports Complex

Amid fidgety Little League sluggers, smiling parents and Minutemen in full regalia, Culpeper County officially unveiled its Community/Sports Complex to an eager public under a breezy spring sky on April 1 marking the culmination of over seven years of planning.

For Culpeper's sizable youth sports community it was a long-awaited dream come true, a place with space to spare to call their own.

"It's a place for young people to learn to participate in sports, learn to win and learn to lose," remarked Culpeper board of supervisors chairman John Coates, who also emceed the event from a covered podium. "This is a place that will build future leaders for our community."

According to attendance figures accumulated by Culpeper County High School's JROTC volunteers, over 1,815 guests visited the event.

"A park of this size is new to Culpeper and a lot of hard work has gone into making this happen," commented John Barrett, Culpeper County's director of Parks and Recreation. "We want this park to be a part of the community and for it to improve the quality of life in the community. We want our park to be seen as a district multi-use park where people can watch their kids play or simply have a picnic."

Among the notable speakers from state and local government were State Senator Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, Delegate Ed Scott, R-Madison, Culpeper Mayor Pranas Rimeikis. Four county supervisors and a number of school board members were also in attendance, including Stevensburg District supervisor Bill Chase, who gave a short speech and cut the official commemorative ribbon. Chase flanked by young soccer, football, baseball, softball and lacrosse players took a large pair of scissors to the ribbon, while Minutemen re-enactors handed out baseballs, footballs and lacrosse balls to young sportsmen and women.

A number of special events enlivened the opening ceremony, there was an official ribbon cutting, live music from Brown Bag Special and David Gilmore, a skydiver, a Black Hawk helicopter and a moon bounce for children; sports demonstrations, refreshments and a Remembrance Day display covering notable sports events in the county's history sponsored Culpeper's Department of Tourism.

The county's new sports complex is located just a few minutes away from downtown Culpeper at the junction of Route 29 and Local Route 666 making it remarkably accessible to residents of Culpeper and neighboring counties.

The 59-acre complex currently contains 16 playable football, baseball, softball and soccer fields, however, plans are also in the works for more amenities including concessions, restrooms, a possible pool, basketball courts and playground equipment.

According to Barrett, the project will address the need for ball fields in its first phases and then move on to other projects soon after.

"We want our complex to be an ongoing and evolving community project," commented Barrett.

According to planners, the size and location of the complex is designed to serve county residents within a 15-mile radius.

With an estimated total cost of $4.4 million, additional sources of funding continue to supplement the $3.5 million the project garnered from a bond referendum approved by county voters in 2001. Taking the lead in creating additional funding is the Culpeper Recreation Foundation, a 501C3 non-profit organization. The foundation's primary goal is to cover cost differences between the bond funding and the sports complex's actual cost.