Pierce County Recreation Department’s fall sports program may move to Patterson this year as improvements are made to Tiger Field.
Recreation Director Maureen Brown floated the idea at the Pierce County Recreation Board meeting last Tuesday morning.
The plan was brought up after Interim County Manager Thomas Sauls said the project had to be re-advertised after no contractors bid on the project in the original letting. All potential bidders expressed concern over the April-September time frame to complete the work. The bids set a start date after the upcoming SE Cancer Walk and prior to the beginning of soccer and football season.
The project has been re-advertised with a deadline for bids set for April 30.
Under Brown’s plan, the department’s football and soccer games would move to Patterson’s recreation fields at the Lion’s Park on Georgia Highway 32.
The county has received a $343,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Matching Grant for improvements to Tiger Field. The county commission has committed up to $1 million in improvements at the field.
The monies for the county’s match and additional funding would come from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and from the county’s general fund.
The work will include resurfacing the track, improving and adding parking and sidewalks that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a concrete pad for the bleachers and replacing field lighting and fencing.
County Chairman Neal Bennett and County Manager Raphel Maddox both said plans call for the work to be done after the first of 2026.
Plans for improvements at Tiger Field have been in the works for the last three years.
Tiger Field has been in use in the county since 1958, when it was built as part of the facilities for Blackshear High School. Blackshear High School merged with Patterson High School to form Pierce County High School in 1982.
The county has used the field for recreation facilities since that time.
