Byline: Matt Lynch
Apr. 29--HARLINGEN -- Plans for a multi-field soccer complex that would attract state and national tournaments continue to progress after a meeting between city officials and a design firm late last month.
Assistant City Manager Gabe Gonzalez said the committee overseeing the plans for a soccer complex north of the city landfill chose one of three plans produced by the Dallas-based firm of Halff Associates in late March.
'The committee chose the second option because of the design of the parking lots and the flow of the fields. The second choice made traffic flow a lot smoother and the foot traffic easier so people wouldn't have to walk through the whole park if they were playing on one of the back fields,' he said.
'Right now, they're going to do some more work on trying to get an actual handle on construction costs and give us two options of a 10-field or 17-field complex.'
Gonzalez said final cost estimates would determine the size of the complex, but preliminary numbers show the proposed complex sporting a $4 million price tag.
While Gonzalez said the complex could be a major source of revenue for the city if officials could attract state or national tournaments, the city's options to fund construction include obtaining sponsors or a possible bond initiative.
But the potential revenue from the complex has city officials thinking of the long-term benefits of undertaking the project.
'If we could get some of these state tournaments, every one of our hotels would be filled,' Gonzalez said. 'That's the object: to get teams from outside the area to come in and spend their money here in town.'
Gonzalez said the next step in the process is for planners to finalize designs so city officials can receive cost estimates from contractors.
'We'll be doing that in the next few months,' he said. 'Right now we have our preliminary cost estimates and designs, but nothing we can go out to bid with.'
While luring out-of-towers is a primary reason for constructing the complex, helping local children enjoy the sport is another goal, Arroyo Youth Soccer Secretary Tony Gorman said.
'We have approximately 1,200 kids and sometimes even more than that register with our soccer club each year,' he said. 'We have the same basic numbers we have in baseball, we just don't have the facilities that can take care of that number of kids. We can't grow the organization because we just don't have the facilities.'
Gorman also acknowledged the potential financial benefits a soccer complex could provide local businesses.
'If we had a complex, it could end up paying for itself and it would generate a tremendous amount of revenue for restaurants, hotels and other businesses here in town,' he said. 'The high schools would like to sponsor state tournaments, but right now those tournaments go to Austin and Corpus Christi because we just don't have the facilities right now.'
Copyright (c) 2006, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas
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