County officials on May 1 unveiled the new entrance sign at Christine Eoff Memorial Park in Festus, the county’s newest park, which offers spring and fall youth soccer programs.
Parks and Recreation Director Tim Pigg said the sale of the park, formerly called Baptist Park, located in unincorporated Festus, was completed on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31.
The county renamed the 28-acre property to Christine Eoff Memorial Park when the sale went through, Pigg said.
The county purchased the property for $600,000 from Dwain Eoff, who owns a construction business called Madison Michael Homes LLC in High Ridge.
The park is named in honor of Eoff’s late sister.
The park, 3627 Baptist Park Road, has three junior-sized soccer fields, a baseball field, gravel and paved parking lots, a concession stand and restrooms.
The county is currently holding youth soccer games and practices at the park, Pigg said. Before, the county leased fields from the Festus-Crystal City Elks; however, about two years ago, Pigg said the club asked the county to find a new home for soccer programming on the eastern side of the county.
The county offers youth soccer programs for residents on the western side of the county out of the Northwest Sports Complex in House Springs.
The county formed an agreement with Eoff last year to hold the spring and fall soccer sessions at the former Baptist Park, allowing the county to use Eoff’s fields in return for mowing the grass and taking care of the property. Pigg said he spoke with Eoff about the county purchasing the property, and he was receptive to the idea.
The Jefferson Baptist Association originally owned and operated the property and sold it to Eoff about four or five years ago.
The spring soccer session started March 28 and will run through May 16. The county also will offer a fall youth soccer program at the park, and more information will be made available about registration on the Jefferson County Department of Parks and Recreation Facebook page or at jeffcoparks.recdesk.com.
At the sign unveiling, Pigg thanked County Executive Dennis Gannon, Director of Administration David B. Courtway, the County Council and the Eoff family for facilitating the sale of the park to the county.
“This is our second sports facility,” Pigg said. “The other one is over at the Northwest Sports Complex.
“Eventually, hopefully, it’ll rival that one once we get things rolling. This spring was our largest soccer program to date. For both sites, we were totaling 730 registrations, the greater portion of which was through Festus. We actually had to turn away about 35-40 (kids), and, at one time, we had 70 on the waiting list.”
Park staff members are working 12-hour days to ensure all the kids registered have a chance to play, Pigg said.
In the fall, Pigg said he’s hopeful to add a fourth soccer field to the park, allowing more kids to play.
“I’d like to thank everybody involved in making this happen for the citizens of this county,” said Councilman Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart). The park lies within his district.
“To my knowledge, this is the first facility of this type (in the county) that’s actually ready to use for the citizens, and they can come in here and make good use of this property immediately.”
Pigg said previously that, with the new acquisition, the county now has 15 public parks. Unlike roughly 2/3 of the county’s other parks, this property lies completely out of the floodplain, he said.