By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com
A request for a land swap between a local resident and the city of Oxford might help kill two birds with one stone in the city’s quest to build a basketball court near the Oxford Wheel Estates mobile home park.
City leaders applied for a grant last year from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation to build a basketball court just north of Oxford Wheel Estates; however, the city did not receive the grant. City Engineer Reanna Mayoral said the city is reapplying this year and seeking other grant opportunities.
In the meantime, an Oxford resident who owns most of the undeveloped last east of the mobile home park approached the city with a land-swap offer recently. He would give the city about .62 of an acre of land south of Oxford Wheel Estates if the city would give up about .36 acres of land north of MHP — where the basketball court was originally proposed to be built — so that a road could be built to allow access into a possible future development.
The Board of Aldermen during a work session meeting Monday voted to pursue the discussion further and to acquire two appraisals of the properties
“At this point, everything is still conceptual but the Board indicated their interest so we are moving forward,” Mayoral said Tuesday.
A conceptual plan shows the court to be 94 feet by 50 feet and with an ornamental iron fence in the front.
Who would operate and manage the courts has not yet been decided with officials waiting to see if the city receives a grant before moving forward with those discussions.
The basketball court is expected to cost about $50,000 to construct.
