The 140 or so acres of undeveloped land between Fisher Ferry Road and U.S. 61 South was once supposed to be a hub of youth activity housing a multimillion-dollar sports complex.

On Monday, the land that once held so much promise showed its true value as bidders competed over who would pay its outstanding tax bill. The total? Less than $300.

A 4.4 acre parcel of the land received a bid from Viking Investments of Jackson on a $9.57 outstanding tax bill, Tax Collector Antonia Flaggs-Jones said. A 132.6-acre parcel received a bid from Green Spring Investments on a $231.22 tax bill, and an 8-acre parcel got a bid from V&C Farm Co. from DeKalb on an outstanding bill of $20.72.

Construction on the sports complex would be complete by now if in 2007 the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality hadn’t found that the land was all but useless because part of Halls Ferry Park was built on what was once the city’s landfill.

In 2007, the city board hired USA Partners Sports Alliance of Jacksonville, Fla., for $250,000 to determine the feasibility of a proposed $25 million sports complex at Halls Ferry Park, including Bazinsky Field, proposed by the Aquila Group of Vicksburg. Aquila still owns the land.

The project would have included baseball and softball fields and related amenities, a water park, a baseball stadium/ballpark and facilities for golf, soccer, volleyball, tennis and other activities. The Aquila Group was slated to lead the construction and management of the fields and sports facilities.

Under an agreement between the city and USA Partners, which was hired after the Aquila Group approached the city, the company would return the study costs to the city if the complex did not materialize. The deal fell apart and the matter remains tied up in the Florida court system.

Public sales are a function of the state’s enforcement of property taxes. Bidders pay what an owner owes, then the owner may, by law, redeem the deed by paying the taxes plus a penalty that the bidder keeps. While most tax sale purchasers are seeking to profit when owners pay up, the process can lead to a tax deed if the property is not redeemed in three years.

The county received about $7,000 in overbids on tax debt, Flaggs-Jones said. Money from those overbids is not returned as part of the redemption process, she said.

Some of the other commercial properties that received bids were:

• Falco Chemical, 1777 Haining Road, received a bid from Artemis Taylor LLC based in Orlando, Fla., on a 2013 tax bill of $21,580.63. The company also received a bid in last year’s tax sale.

• The former Kuhn Memorial Hospital, 1422 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., owned by Ester Stewart Buford Foundation, on outstanding taxes of $1,280.23. The bid was placed by Symbiotic Partners LLC of Orlando, Fla.

• 1415 Washington St., the former El Rio Mexican Restaurant that was destroyed by fire in March 2013, on outstanding taxes of $832.91. The bid was placed by Sunstone LLC of Lauderdale.