Spanish Fort’s council members engaged in a long discussion last week about future uses for the city’s municipal park space, as the type of developments being planned came into question.

Councilman J.R. Smith said he would like to see some space dedicated for soccer and football fields at Spirit Park.

“I’m not saying Spanish Fort doesn’t need four more tennis courts,” Smith said. “I’m just saying we may not need them right here. I would like to see us go ahead and start a soccer and football field on the property we have here.”

Smith said there is currently no permanent dedicated space for the city’s youth to use for soccer and football programs, something he sees as a big issue to city residents.

Mayor Mike McMillan was sympathetic to Smith’s request, but said the city had to consider several factors.

“I don’t disagree on thought, but from a practicality standpoint, there are issues,” McMillan said. “If we are going to build more tennis courts, it does make sense to have them all together to make it easier to host tournaments.”

Councilwoman Mary Brabner, who helps manage the local tennis league, said she felt the park might not actually need more tennis courts after all.

“I’m not sure that needs to be a tennis court on that piece of property,” Brabner said. “If Daphne gets their additional 10 and Fairhope finishes theirs, I’m not sure that’s the best use for that property. We’ve had conversations about the dog park and possibly moving it there. There are several ways we could possibly use that space now.”

Smith reiterated his support for dedicated youth soccer and football space.

“We’ve just got to build some new youth football and soccer areas,” Smith said. “We have to do something. If we can’t come up with a date they can give us an answer by, we need to come up with another plan. We hear it all the time and it is a legitimate complaint.”

McMillan said he and city staff would look into the issue and report back to the council members.