A new recreational complex is coming to the City of Hollister.

At a reveal ceremony on Tuesday afternoon, city leaders kicked off the Roger and Becky Braden Complex project.

The expanded park location is located along Laurel Street.

The expanded facility will include the current facilities at Tiger Park and Pepper Dog Park.

City leaders said they will be adding walking trails, a picnic area and pickleball.

They said the old elementary school nearby will be demolished to make way for additional parking.

“It’s very exciting to see instead of this just sitting there going to waste doing nothing, we can convert it over to a very usable area for everyone to enjoy,” said Hollister Park Board Chairman, Tom Linkous.

Those benefitting from the project said new activities in the city will only help bring more people to the area.

“When people want to move to a community, they obviously want a place that they can get a good job and have affordable housing, but they also want somewhere that they can get involved and feel a part of the community and have recreation,” said Sandy Leech, a pickleball player. “I think that this is a great investment because that’s one of the things people look for when they try to decide where to move. I think Hollister is a great community. I’ve lived here for years.”

The city said this expansion is possible from a donation of land by the Trinity Christian Academy.

It’s named in honor of the late Roger Braden, who the city said had a lifelong commitment of helping the community. 

The full project, city leaders said, should be completed in a few years.

A feature on the project can be seen on the Ozarks First Website.

(Story by Emilee Kuschel, Ozarks First)