South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson favors building the city’s proposed sports complex at the site of Vicksburg Municipal Airport rather than any of the four other sites city officials are considering, he told Vicksburg Lions Club Wednesday.

Thompson said he prefers the airport site because the city already owns the property and its easy to access from U.S. 61 South.

“We’ll see what the board decides to do with that, but in my opinion, I believe the airport may be the best decision when it comes to choosing the location for this project,” Thompson said.

In addition to the airport, city officials have considered parcels of land on Fisher Ferry Road, U.S. 61 North near Merit Health River Region hospital, near U.S. 80 and Mississippi 27 and on Ring Road southeast of the airport.

Only the Fisher Ferry property and the airport are owned by the city. Access to Fisher Ferry property has raised concerns from city officials.

“I don’t think you can get more cost effective than using what you already own for construction,” Thompson said.

The downside to closing Vicksburg Municipal Airport is the city potentially could have to repay the Federal Aviation Administration more than $800,000 in grant funding it has received in the past five years. Thompson said Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has already met with U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran and U.S. Rep Bennie Thompson in an effort to have the debt forgiven.

“That’s what we’re working on now,” Thompson said.

On Monday, Flaggs set a June 29 deadline for selecting a site. In January, he appointed a committee to examine other possible sites for the sports complex after a public meeting on the sports complex in which Diamante Global recommended the city’s Fisher Ferry property as the most feasible site to build a sports complex. In April he gave the group 60 days to name a site, but rainy weather has prevented committee members from getting on the properties.

In the past three weeks, both aldermen and Flaggs spoke to the Lions Club, each spoke briefly about the sports complex proposal.

Thompson, Flaggs and other city officials visited Greenville, S. C., two weeks ago and toured that city’s recreational center facility. Thompson said the need for a recreational facility was great, but there was no need to build “a one-stop shop.”

Thompson also briefly mentioned the city’s capital improvement plan, which includes $4.6 million for street paving to be done in two phases in the North and South wards.

Thompson is also developing a city youth council made up of students from all four high schools in the community to get them involved in government.

Eventually, Thompson would also like to propose an incentive for local businesses. A recent business summit was a positive step, he said.

“I would much rather do business with a local company than a company out of city, out of state,” Thompson said. “We need to work to keep those tax dollars in Vicksburg.”