Hub City Central could be operational by late 2025, officials say

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Jackson-Madison County community has been waiting decades to see students play sports on a new home field.

New information shared by the district says this could be a possibility in the new year. The Hub City Central Project has been in the works for more than 30 years.

The project includes a football stadium with eight lane track, arena and will house the future site of Jackson-Madison County School System’s central offices and administration.

The vision is to have a complex that serves as a hub for the school district.

“The central office is going to be a resource center for families for kids. We are going to have literacy classes there. We are going to offer so much more than just being a central office. Our Oman Arena we have because we have expanded our sports. We are going to be able to utilize this building on Saturdays to do intramurals for students,” said Dr. Marlon King, JMCSS superintendent.

The stadium and track will have a press box, full concessions and seat more than 2,400 fans. Over the years the project has been stalled multiple times.

King says the district has had to be mindful of finances, focusing on getting the biggest bang for their buck.

“This immersed out of a pandemic and so when you think about inflation and you think about cost and you think about everything that happened then, you know we had to reset and really think about how much money we wanted to really invest in this project,” said King.

So far, King estimates $2 million has been spent on the project for things like a new roof on the Oman Area, turf and bleachers.

King says the project will be funded through the fund balance — ESSER dollars — which were received during the pandemic, rainy day funds and funds from the county commission.

The plan is to have the project up and running by fall of 2025. Thursday, the school board will decide on the proposed guaranteed maximum price of $14.6 million to build Hub City Central.

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