Our Beginning : In 1993 a group of concerned citizens met at the Monrovia V.F.D. to discuss the shortage of baseball practice fields. Northwest Madison County was growing at a pace where present facilities could not meet the need for services. A plan was developed, and shortly after this meeting, MPRA was born. Forty-Three confident citizens signed a bank note, which would grow to over $140,000, t
o purchase the 18.8 acres of land Phillips Park sets on, to build and light the ball fields and construct the concessions stand and other buildings. Sprit of Volunteerism: The Soul of MPRA - The Monrovia Parks & Recreation Association (MPRA) was established as a volunteer organization—and it still is. The only paid employee is the person who cleans the rest rooms! The property payments, lights, fencing, utilities, insurance, upkeep, and improvements are made through your concession stand purchases. As a volunteer; when you see trash on the ground please pick it up, when you see vehicles in the pedestrian areas please tell the drivers "for safety reasons to please park in the parking lot", when a workday is scheduled please attend, when you see children in unsafe situations please intercede. All the ball fields, except two, were named after generous donors of $5,000 or more. The two exceptions are the Willis Moore Field, named after a young man who died in the line of duty as an Alabama State Trooper, and the Earnie Willhite Field, named for a dedicated volunteer. The Park is owned and operated by MPRA. If you wish to participate in it’s operation, you must become a MPRA member. We are a unique organization, "A Private, Non-profit, Open to the public organization that owns and operates a major recreation facility". I daresay there is not another in the state. Let’s continue our spirit of volunteerism—we had it before it became fashionable. MPRA does not receive any scheduled government funding. From time to time MPRA has received grants thru the efforts of our local and state elected officials. The walking trail required 20% matching funds-Senator Tom Butler saw to it we were prepared for that by giving us a check from his discretionary funds to get us started. Senator Tom had two pieces of legislation passed that directly affects the park. The first allows the county commissioner to enter the property and assist—especially when equipment is needed. The second is a sales tax exemption for the city/county sales tax and full property tax exemption for the Phillips Park, but we must still pay the 4% State sales tax.
