South Fulton County

Former NBA player helping to bring huge athletic facility to College Park

South Fulton is getting ready to break ground on a massive athletic facility.

A former NBA player is planning to build it in College Park at Camp Truitt on Lakeshore Drive.

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The $20 million, 50,000-square-foot facility will include indoor basketball and volleyball courts, indoor soccer fields, retractable bleachers, a 300 meter multilane track, training rooms and a pool.

Seventeen-year College Park resident Antonio Allen says the facility will give teens some options.

“Maybe the crime rate will go down. I think it’ll be perfect, perfect. It’ll give them something to do. One of the biggest problems, they don’t have anything to do,” Allen told Channel 2′s Sophia Choi.

College Park Councilman Roderick Gay says he has tried to get amenities on the abandoned land for 20 years and finally convinced former Indiana Pacers player Dale Davis to invest.

He’s part of a group called Pro Players Holdings that put down a million dollars to get the project going. The group will lease the land for 30 years, for about $27,000 per a year.

Gay says it “should generate an economic spur for the community.”

Investors plan to make profits from Amateur Athletic Union tournaments, which could bring teams from across the nation.

“The AAU basketball is a membership tournament fee and there are nominal fees for other guests,” Gay said.

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County Chairman Robb Pitts says this will round out College Park’s image as a sports city.

“You already have the GICC, you also have the Hawks out there, the G-league team, and now you put this out there for AAU basketball,” Pitts said.

The full commission will vote on the proposal Wednesday.

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Resident Sellisa Jefferson says she’s jazzed and ready to use the facility.

“It will definitely benefit, as far as our health being more proactive,” Jefferson said. “It’ll provide jobs, and it’ll also invest in our youth.”

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