VIDALIA — When Marc Archer and the rest of the members of the Concordia Recreation District No. 3 met six years ago to discuss the possibility of building a recreation complex in Vidalia, they all shared a dream of making something everyone in the Miss-Lou could enjoy.

Work on the new complex started last Friday, and Archer, who is the board chairman, said the district’s dream is finally becoming a reality.

“We haven’t had our official groundbreaking yet,” he said. “But there is construction equipment and bulldozers at the site to go ahead and start on some of the dirt work.”

Archer said the groundbreaking should happen within the next one to two weeks on the approximately $6.5 million recreation complex that will be located next to Walmart and Vidalia’s new municipal complex site.

“You do not have a clue on how excited we all are,” he said. “It is going to be one of the premier spots to take people in a five-state area.”

Archer said the new complex will feature tennis courts, four baseball fields, four softball fields, covered and uncovered basketball courts, soccer fields and a number of other features.

“It is going to be an awesome facility that you have to see to believe,” he said.

Archer said the contract for the complex stipulates the construction crew has 259 days to complete the project, not including bad weather days.

“We are looking at about a year on the completion of this project,” he said. “We are hoping to get it ready by the end of baseball and softball season next year so we can play some All-Star games on the new fields.”

Archer said when the complex is complete, residents from all over the Miss-Lou will be able to enjoy a truly unique recreation complex.

“This complex is going to be everything we dreamed of from the start,” he said. “It is just a matter of putting it all together.”

Archer said even though the project has taken six years to come to fruition, he knows the district used that time wisely to plan the best complex for Vidalia.

“This is probably the first and last facility I will help build in my lifetime,” he said. “But I couldn’t have asked for a better one to be a part of.”

Archer said construction of the recreation complex will take place simultaneously with the construction of the new municipal complex, which is scheduled to be open and in use by December.