DAPHNE — City Council members endorsed plans submitted to them for a proposed sports complex.

Recreation board members and consulting landscape architect Brandon Adams presented their plans at Monday night’s meeting.

As proposed, 117 acres behind Wal-Mart would have baseball fields, a skate board park, a playground accessible to youngsters with physical disabilities, a bicycle motocross site, some basketball and volleyball courts.

A “Miracle Field,” with a special rubberized surface, is part of the proposed package.

The complex would also feature an indoor recreation center, a pool and a senior center.

Under this plan, Trione Park would be changed from its current uses to an exclusively football and soccer complex.

Similarly, Lott Park would transition into all tennis courts.

Recreation Board chairman Ed Nelson said that no cost or construction estimates had been included in the proposal because it is a “conceptual plan.”

“There’s no doubt that this is ambitious and that it will be expensive,” Nelson said.

“But now we’re sending it to you, to get your input and so that you can pose questions or point out omissions.”

Another board member, Kit Smith said that a “tremendous amount of time” was spent trying to determine citizen needs and wishes.

“When it comes to this 117 acres, we wanted to put it to its highest and best use,” Smith said.

Daphne’s existing recreational facilities are “outdated and extremely overcrowded,” he said.

Councilman Gus Palumbo was the first to speak in support of the project.

“That 117 acres is basically unencumbered and we should talk about when — not if — we will tackle this,” he said.

There’s no doubting the city’s need for new recreational facilities, Palumbo said.

“The bottom line is that as the city has grown, we have fallen woefully behind in terms of our recreational facilities,” he said. “This is the future for Daphne and our children.”

Councilman Bailey Yelding called the proposal “a great vision, one that will make Daphne really stand out.”

He agreed that it’s vital to start working on making this plan a reality.

“It ought to only be a matter of when we get started,” Yelding said.

His suggestion was met with support from Councilman Ron Scott, who suggested discussing the proposal in depth at a work session.

At that time, council could “prioritize items and put dollar amount to them” while also beginning to look for grants to fund the proposed complex.

Council President Greg Burnam, who agreed with his fellow council members’ remarks, also praised Mayor Fred Small’s contributions to this project.

“This wouldn’t have been possible without the negotiation work of Mayor Small,” Burnam said.

“Without him and his efforts, you guys wouldn’t be here tonight,” he said to the Recreation Board members.

Council members Cathy Barnette and John Lake did not attend the meeting.