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Summerfield's Town Council found out Tuesday night  it won’t get a $500,000 grant it was counting on to build an athletics park.

However, the council voted to continue building the park.

“It’s going to be cheaper to build it now than to come back and have to redo it,” Councilman John Wray said.

Town Manager Michael Brandt told the council Tuesday  the town’s application for a $500,000 Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant was one of 68 denied by the state because of the economy’s downward spiral.

Brandt said the state awarded only 16 grants of $500,000 each.

“What you need to decide tonight is how you want to move forward with the park,” Brandt told the council.

The cost to complete the entire park is estimated at $2.9 million.

Councilwoman Becky Strickland voted against completing the park. “I think Phase I would be adequate for the kids and taxpayers of Summerfield,” Strickland said.

Construction has already started on Phase I of the park. That includes all the grading for the site; construction of two small baseball fields; roadway improvements to U.S. 220; the main driveway and parking lot; an irrigation well; a septic system; a potable water well; and the electrical layout and lighting for the parking lot and the fields.

Initially, the first phase did not include the restroom/concessions building. In order for the park to be operable, the building had to be added to the first phase.

The second phase of the park incudes a large baseball field, a large multi-purpose field, an additional parking lot, a one-fifth mile walking track, a walking trail, two picnic shelters, a playground, lighting for the two fields and a maintenance building.

Councilwoman Alicia Flowers was not completely against building the second phase of the park.

“I think we should defer Phase II until we can see how much use the two ball fields get,” Flowers said.

Brandt presented a proposal to the council that would save the town nearly $200,000.

That proposal included scaling down the entry feature and landscaping to the park, demolishing a house on the property, not building the two picnic shelters, on-site maintenance building and playground, forgoing the purchase of accessory items for the park and lease-purchasing the lights for the fields.

Wray’s motion was to continue construction and scale back the entrance and landscaping, to include the electrical and water fixtures needed to build the picnic shelters later, and to keep the maintenance building and playground. It passed 3 to 2.

Contact Tiffany S. Jones at 373- 7157 or tiffany.jones@news-record.com