At Wednesday’s Greater Kent Committee (GKC) meeting, he president of the Dowtown Dover Partnership called the bureaucratic roadblocks placed in front of the Kent County Sports Complex “unprecedented”. Another person said the complex is being “held hostage” by Governor Jack Markell’s proposed gas tax hike.
And former GKC president Bill Strickland offered an even starker assessment.
"Well frankly, folks, I’m here to tell you that if we don’t have some agreement by the end of this General Assembly, the Greater Kent Committee is likely going to walk from the project," said Strickland.
Strickland is looking for progress to be made toward building the interchange linking Route 1 to the proposed $24 million facility the GKC sees as an economic engine for Kent County. The complex and its 12 multipurpose fields are expected to draw regional sports tournaments to the area.
"We’ve got a great model, it’s tee’d up. It’s going to drive out of state license plates to the parking lots of our hoteliers, the parking lots of our restauranteurs, the parking lots of our malls and shopping areas," said Strickland. "But the reality is that we can’t afford to allow this to dangle out in the wind and take an indefinite path."
Supporters of the facility and DelDOT have been at odds for months over the project. Speakers at Wednesday's meeting argued DelDOT has already spent almost $5 million on the interchange, and the road work was planned even before the sports complex was proposed.
DelDOT officials respond the interchange will be built, eventually. They say their budget for infrastructure projects is tight and the Frederica interchange isn’t at the top of the priority list, but add Gov. Markell’s proposed gas tax hike to pay for such projects, or an alternative, could make it a reality sooner.
DelDOT spokesman Geoff Sundstrom adds facility supporters could also do more to help move the process along by providing a clearer picture that the funds are there to complete the facility.
"Obviously we don’t want to commit, as an agency, tens of millions of dollars to an infrastructure improvement when we don’t have solid assurance that the project will actually be built," Sundtrom said. "And that assurance comes from being able to understand where the funds are going to come from to build the complex."
GKC members argue the funding is there, but some financiers won’t give full support UNTIL DelDOT agrees to build the interchange.
Supporters had hoped construction of the facility would be completed in Fall 2015 and it would open in Fall 2016.