LAWTON – A lease agreement between the Lawton Youth Sports Authority and Lawton Public Schools will give the authority control over 120 acres in the Eastside Park area, including the land the authority purchased for the city’s proposed indoor youth sports complex.
The authority voted 5-0, with one abstention, on June 10 to approve the lease agreement with LPS. Authority member Steve Coleman did not vote because he serves as the attorney for the school district, even though he was not involved in preparing the agreement.
The LPS Board of Education will discuss the lease agreement during the board’s next meeting.
A 55-year lease The authority will lease 20 acres south and southwest of the existing sports fields, plus 20 acres directly north of the sports fields. The lease will be good for 55 years, and the authority has the option of extending it for another 55 years.
The school district will waive rent for the first 36 months of the lease or completion of the development/ construction phase of the sports complex, according to the agreement. The waiver will give the authority time to develop and build any improvements to the site, as long as the authority builds a walking bridge connecting MacArthur High School and MacArthur Middle School to Eastside Park.
“Additionally, after the first 36 months of the lease, lessee will have the ongoing right to continue to make improvements to the real property during the remaining term of the lease, including the extended term,” the agreement said. “For clarification, ‘completion of the development/construction phase shall be when the certificate of occupancy for the indoor sports facility is issued.”
The authority will begin paying rent, set at $4,013.92 per month, when the sports complex is completed. However, the payment will be waived if the authority makes the complex available for LPS’ use for at least 602 hours per fiscal year.
Authority-run sports programs will have priority for using the complex over LPS’ athletic activities, said Authority Chairman Brian Henry.
“So during the day, they will have ample opportunity, which they’ve already talked about,” he said. “And then we will coordinate evening and off-season use as deemed necessary.”
Henry said that provision applies to all LPS schools, not just the MacArthur schools.
Under the agreement, the authority has an option to buy the property at the end of the first lease term or the end of any extended term. The authority may exercise that option by notifying the school district at least 180 days before the lease ends.
If the authority decides to buy the property, the authority and the school district will determine the price based on the land’s fair market value at the time, according to the agreement. That figure will exclude the fair market value of any improvements, since the authority will have paid for those improvements from its own resources.
In other business, the authority:
• Voted to recommend changing the name of Eastside Park to Lawton-Fort Sill Sports Park.
The recommendation will be presented to the Lawton City Council for approval at the council’s next meeting.
• Approved branding and a logo for the indoor sports complex and the outdoor fields that will go along with it.
The complex will be known as the PlayLawton Sportsplex, while the fields will be known as the PlayLawton Athletic Fields.