Much progress is being made on a set of eight new ball fields the City of Bainbridge is placing at the Bill Reynolds Sports Park on Cox Avenue, City Manager Chris Hobby said Tuesday night.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Hobby presented several bids related to equipment that will be installed on the fields, which the city is aiming to have ready by next spring—possibly as early as January or February. The new additions to the sports park, which are being paid for using receipts from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, also include two multi-purpose fields and five basketball courts.

Bainbridge Leisure Services has already booked a tournament for next February which will use the new fields, Hobby said. While the fields will also help serve the city’s rapidly growing youth baseball and softball leagues, they are also intended to position Bainbridge as a destination for softball and baseball tournaments that bring in visitors and sales tax dollars, Hobby has said previously.

The city manager said Leisure Services Director Al Kelley has made contacts with many of the regional tournament organizers, several of whom have visited the new phase of the sports park.

“I think they’ve been impressed by the fact we will offer 16 fields for play during weekend tournaments,” Hobby said. “Adding the new fields and the amenities that the teams expect leaves us well-positioned to host major events in the future.”

The new basketball courts were paved Tuesday. Local contracts are busy building two pavilion buildings that will house scorers’ booths, bathrooms and concession stands.