The head of the Bloomington School District is opposed to a community soccer or multi-sports complex. Such a complex has had on again off again discussion for years.
Developer Dave Stark is planning a public presentation later this year about land on Normal's west side, north of Crossroads center on Wylie Drive.
District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly is not a fan of the idea.
"I'm not anxious to see city and town investment in this," said Reilly
Reilly said he'd rather see improvements made to fields at up to 30 area schools that could also have community use.
"We have a lot of maintenance that goes on on the natural turf field and there are not a lot of hours that the kids get to be on it. In this case if you put turf on it you can get a lot more out of it and we can open it up to the community much more than we do today," said Reilly.
Proponents of a soccer complex have said it would bring outside spenders into town for tournaments.
Reilly said the economic development argument also favors his suggestion.
"People come into town when potential employers come in and they see our schools. It says something. It leaves an impression. And I want them when they drive out of here to say wow, they really pay attention to their schools," said Reilly.
Reilly says he'd rather see municipal money go to schools or mental health programs than such a facility.
Editors note. This story was corrected to indicate the land for a possible multi-sports complex is north of the Crossroads Center, not north of the former Mitsubishi plant.
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