GROVES — The city of Groves is looking to make improvements to the Huntsman Park property in conjunction with Port Neches-Groves Youth Football Association.

PNGYFA is looking to hire a contractor to prepare the fields, which are located behind the Gulf Coast Soccer fields on Twin City Highway and Hogaboom Road. Groves City Manager D. Sosa will ask the city council during the 5:30 p.m. meeting on Monday to authorize work be done with the same contractor on the city’s portion of the land when the time comes.

Having the projects run concurrently is important to the success of the work so there will be comprehensive draining and the right elevation, Sosa said.

The section of land as a whole is about 31 acres with PNGYFA having 16 acres and the city 15 acres — not counting the soccer fields.

Besides the soccer area, the sports complex will include baseball/softball fields, several football fields, additional parking, permanent concession stands, permanent restrooms and more.

Long time coming

Currently hundreds of kids take part in PNGYFA, but the organization doesn’t have a home field; instead they play on the Port Neches-Groves High School band practice field in Port Neches. And while the games are well attended there is no permanent structure there for fans or players.

Huntsman and Gulf Coast Soccer Club have had a partnership since a donation in 1992 of about 25 acres of land. Then, in 2016, Jon Huntsman Sr., founder of Huntsman Corporation, made a trip to town to discuss the leasing of 32-acres of land to Groves — the land was split between the city and football league in what is now Huntsman Recreation Complex.