ODESSA — As he toured a trendy sports facility earlier this year in Gainesville, Florida, Odessa City Council Member Mark Matta wondered why his hometown didn’t have its own.
Sure, Ratliff Stadium, home of the storied Permian Panthers, can hold nearly 20,000 for a Friday night high school football game. But the blue-collar town doesn't have a flashy complex with modern equipment and fields for sports of all kinds. In other words, the kind of sought-out facility found in bigger cities and suburbs, Matta said.
