Youth football and soccer players in Baker have long made do with practicing in baseball outfields. That’s about to change.
- Okaloosa County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a master concept plan for a $975,000 expansion of the Baker Athletic Complex, giving the green light to three to four dedicated multipurpose fields on 10 acres along Charlie Day Road.
“Their biggest need is multipurpose fields…soccer, football,” said Jeff Peters, director of facility and park maintenance. “They don’t have that. They’re practicing in the outfield there.”
The complex serves as home to the Baker Area Youth Association. When the county purchased the adjacent parcel in March 2021, it assembled more than 130 contiguous acres of public property surrounded by roads on three sides.
Commissioner Sherri Cox, who represents the district, said she frequently drives past the facility.
- “It’s been an area that has needed revitalization for some time,” Cox said. “I know that our youth sports will really appreciate this and get a lot of use out of it.”
She credited Peters for moving quickly on improvements and said she expects the project to benefit Baker for generations.
The county has already made strides at the existing complex — installing LED parking lot lights, replacing old batting cages with two new ones featuring synthetic turf, filling dugouts with concrete and adding new bleachers.
Phase one of the expansion, budgeted for fiscal year 2026, also calls for lighting, drainage work, stabilized parking and restrooms. Peters said grading will be required to level the playing surfaces.
Chairman Paul Mixon raised questions about stormwater routing, asking whether drainage could flow to adjacent county land to keep future expansion options open.
Peters acknowledged the sloped terrain complicates matters but said staff is coordinating with public works.
- “We definitely want to get the most green grass out there that we can,” he said.
A concession stand, asphalt parking, a one-mile walking trail, a playground and additional lighting would come in later phases. Design work begins next, followed by bidding for construction.
