Discussions over a multipurpose sports complex for Vicksburg have put me looking back to the past and my childhood in Baton Rouge and its recreation programs and facilities in the 1960s.

I toured Vicksburg’s facilities with the members of the city’s ad hoc committee on recreation and in some ways they reminded of my youth — a time when sports were played for the enjoyment of the game and the physical activity, and there were places nearby where we could ride bikes and start a pickup football, baseball or basketball game and not worry about our safety.

Baton Rouge being a much large city than Vicksburg, now has a large variety of facilities and programs offering multiple sites for baseball, softball, soccer, tennis and basketball, hiking trails, air rifle and archery ranges and a velodrome, built when the city hosted a national sports event. It also has a series of neighborhood parks that offer summer program to children and two public football stadiums — Memorial and Olympia Field — that stay busy during football season.

But in the early through late 1960s — and even through the ’70s — the city’s recreation program was somewhat like Vicksburg’s is now. At one time the main sports complex was Howell Park in North Baton Rouge, which sported a recreation center, baseball and softball fields, a golf course and a swimming pool. In the south was City Park, which also had a recreation center, a tennis center and the city’s largest pool, which was closed in the early ’60s during integration. It had no ball fields.

If you wanted to play baseball or softball in South Baton Rouge, where I grew up, you either went to Howell Park or one of the many ball fields of questionable quality at the city’s elementary or junior high schools.

Two of the busiest were Bernard Terrace Elementary and Broadmoor Junior High School in southeastern Baton Rouge, where I played a lot of C and B league softball. Broadmoor sticks in my memory more than any other field, because the outfield there bordered on the backyards of a series of houses, all with dogs. Since I played right field, my biggest fear was that someone would put one over the fence and I would have to go chase it and dodge a large dog. I should have carried Milkbones with me.

The one thing Baton Rouge had, that I wish Vicksburg had one more of, was golf courses. Besides City and Howell parks, there was Webb Park, formerly the Westdale Country Club, which the city bought, and Greenwood Park, which was in Baker, a small East Baton Rouge Parrish town I used to call home about 30 minutes north of Baton Rouge. More courses have since been added.

My summers were spent either on the ball fields or the golf course, and City Park was the favored course, because it was close to home and the green fee was the lowest in the city at a $1 (we’re talking the ’60s here, folks).

Before I grew up and moved away, Baton Rouge expanded is facilities by using several open and available areas of land. My brother was the beneficiary of this growth, which allowed him to play baseball and softball at more modern and better-built facilities. I remained involved in the city’s recreation program as an umpire in its junior softball program (another story for another day) before getting married and having to limit my bachelor activities.

When I compare the city’s situation with Baton Rouge, I see a lot of similarities in the desire to grow and expand, and the realization that something needs to be done. The difference? The Baton Rouge Recreation and Parks Commission, which oversees recreation programs and facilities in Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, is its own taxing authority. It can set its own millage for recreation. And they expanded a little at a time.

I realize Vicksburg will never be able to put together the number of facilities Baton Rouge has done, but I believe with the right planning it can put together facilities that will allow the children living here and their parents the opportunity to enjoy what I enjoyed in my younger years.

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John Surratt is a reporter and can be reached by email at john.surratt@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545.