Columbia cross-country course set for public input

Columbia Parks and Recreation will hold a public input meeting for the construction of a cross-country course on July 10.

The course will be a joint project paid for by the city of Columbia and MU in the Gans Creek Recreation Area. The project’s budget is $200,000. The 2015 voter-approved park sales tax will make up some of the funding for the project.

The meeting will happen from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Gans Creek concession building.

MU Athletic Director Jim Sterk told ABC 17 in an exclusive interview in June that the course was still in the planning stage.

“A course that will hold the high school championships, the SEC and maybe a national in the future….It is something that I think would put Mizzou on the map.”

The course will be the new home for the Mizzou cross country team and begin hosting Missouri state championships in November 2019.

Sterk added the effort to create more infrastructure and put more resources into Mizzou’s track facilities is something he and his coaches want to pursue.

“We have the ground to make it a really competitive course. It would be a neat setting you or I could use, but it would also be something to use from a competitive standpoint.”

When not in use by Mizzou or high school teams, the track will be available for the general public to use according to Sterk and Columbia Parks and Recreation.