Business View Civil and Municipal | March 2021

78 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MARCH 2021 with our new City Hall, economic development building, parks and recreation, library, and the police/municipal court building. We are also in the process of building a new Senior Center in this area. We are buying up every bit of property we can to try to keep Main Street vibrant for the future.” A unique and exciting project currently underway in Millbrook is The Fields at 17 Springs, a $45 million mega sports complex. The project, which is in its first phase, includes several multi-purpose rectangular sports fields, a tennis complex, pickle ball courts, a high school stadium/track, ballfields, open air pavilions, and a 100,000 square foot multiplex for indoor sports year-round and other large events such as conventions and trade shows. “It is unusual to get five organizations to band together,” says Kelley, “but the City of Millbrook, Elmore County Commission, Elmore County Economic Development Authority, Elmore County Board of WHERE BUSINESS MEETS PLEASURE eceda@elmoreeda.com (334) 524-0817 people want to get away from the big city and live outside of it a little bit. They feel safer, and I think they just enjoy the small-town atmosphere which we strive to provide.” Without a traditional downtown, there is a strategy in place to develop one centered around the Village Green, a popular public park located on the City’s Main Street. Part of the plan includes purchasing property in that area of town, as it becomes available. Mayor Kelley shares, “Over the past three years, the city has acquired strategic pieces of property with the intent to help steer desirable and quality development in what we envision as the downtown area one day. We are maintaining municipal government facilities in this area to promote downtown vitality. In many cities, when a major road like Highway 14 goes through, it almost serves as a bypass and the old areas just fade out. We are doing all we can to keep the Main Street and the south end of town vibrant,