Trending
Alize Johnson will not bring a basketball complex to Memorial Park.
"It will not be built there," Jaron Bartholomew, Johnson's manager, said Tuesday.
Johnson, 22, plays for the Indiana Pacers, and offered to spend up to $150,000 to build two courts at the park.
He also created a foundation to which individuals can make donations, Bartholomew said.
"He wants to put it in the city, but not on city-owned property," Bartholomew said.
Johnson was willing to fund the project, but searched for individuals, businesses and organizations to begin to pitch in to a foundation he launched, Bartholomew said.
If he is looking for private property, it's going to be more costly because this was never intended to be a taxpayer-funded project, said Mayor Gabriel J. Campana.
"Council wanted to study the issue to death," Campana said.
The complex was supposed to help other young ball players gain skills and perhaps get to the elite levels in college or the professional leagues.
"It is a slap in the face of a wonderful young man who wanted to give back to his community," Campana said.
A project of this merit requires vetting of engineering, design, insurance and other details normally heading to council's various committees, such as public works and finance.
Johnson has earned kudos, no matter what.
When he presented the idea, Councilman Randall J. Allison said all of "us" want to see it succeed, but "we want to see it done right."
Johnson gained kudos after buying sneakers for players at his alma mater at St. John Neumann Regional Academy.
When he announced the basketball court complex, ideas were considered for tournament play and tourism dollars in the city.
The park, meanwhile, has its share of attractions, including Splash Cove, a swimming pool and aquatic water park, and is nearby to Bowman Field, Elm Park and the historic Original Little League, site of the first league game.