Union County Fair raises concerns with city of Anna over new sports complex

ANNA, Ill. (KFVS) – The city of Anna’s plans for a new baseball and softball complex in Anna City Park are raising concerns about an area that’s also home to the Union County Fair.

Chris Hodges is the Union County Fair treasurer and he told Heartland News that the existing ball fields in Anna City Park have removable fencing. That makes it possible for the fair to use the same space for events.

“If you have an open field. You can get around multiple ways depending on how everyone parks,” said Hodges.

Hodges said the planned sports complex won’t be as easy to work around. He worried that could prevent the fair from using the infield. He said it could put the fair’s biggest events at risk.

“In a lot of the events, we pack in tractors, horse trailers, and rodeos. We have tractor pulls and demo derbies. You get all those people in there. It’s controlled chaos. It’s gonna be tough to get through with a fence there,” Hodges said.

City Administrator Dori Bigler said Anna’s current fields are in need of repair, and not just for cosmetic reasons. She said the current ballfields aren’t in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Our current ballfields are in disrepair and not ADA accessible and need a lot of work. So we decided to apply for a new park grant and rehab the whole facility to make it ADA accessible and more efficiently laid out and just improve that whole area of the park,” Bigler explained.

Bigler said the city of Anna is taking the concerns from the Union County Fair Board seriously and is even including them in the design process.

“We want to be sure to incorporate everyone’s needs. There will be some changes but not enough to change the functionality of what already happens out there. A lot of these things will be improvements rather than a hinderance. So we’re letting those key players be a part of the design so everyone can be happy in the end and there be improvement in the end,” said Bigler.

The sports complex project is currently in the design phase, with that process expected to be completed in October 2024.

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