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Indiana Soccer Association moving to Westfield

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The Indiana Soccer Association is moving its headquarters from the east side of Indianapolis to Westfield in what the Hamilton County suburb is hailing as a major addition to its planned sports mega-complex.

Westfield Mayor Andy Cook announced Thursday morning that ISA intends to move to the Grand Park Sports Campus after it's completed in 2013. Some of the 32 soccer fields and 26 baseball diamonds planned for the complex will be ready next year, Cook said.

Groundbreaking on the $42 million, 350-acre park is set for Nov. 1.

“This announcement absolutely solidifies the entire project,” Cook said. “The uniqueness about this facility is that it locates all the fields in one location.”

Westfield’s agreement with ISA calls for the association to manage and maintain the soccer fields in exchange for any rent it would have paid. ISA, which will be responsible for game and tournament scheduling, also will receive a portion of the revenue generated from the fields.

The 32 soccer fields, eight of which will be artificial turf, are designed to also accommodate football, softball, lacrosse, rugby and field hockey games.

Cook said the city is in discussions with organizations representing those sports that could be interested in playing games at the park as well.

“We expect, with this kind of announcement today, that we’ll see a lot of interest from other sports,” he said.

ISA, located at 5440 Herbert Lord Road near East 56th Street, has about 85,000 members, including youth and adult players, coaches and referees. The group said the fields could host up to 1,800 teams annually, bringing 300,000 players and vistors to the park.

The decision follows a similar announcement in January by the Lids Indiana Bulls, a youth baseball organization for players ages 12 to 18. The Bulls now play tournaments at facilities throughout central Indiana.

Cook, a key architect behind the complex, said the deals help bolster his belief that the project will be an economic development boon for the growing suburb to Carmel’s north.

Once completed, Westfield expects the park to attract 500,000 visitors annually who will generate more than $10 million in spending.

The city also estimates that 2,300 jobs could be created from the hotels and restaurants it thinks will sprout up around the park.

The goal is to attract commercial development that would be used by those visiting for the sports tournaments. If that happens, it would strengthen Westfield’s tax base, which is now mostly residential.

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  • "green"
    How do you define green space? My vision is of a natural system that pomotes and enhances the quality of environment around us and our children, not a manufactured and devestated landscape saturated with chemicals, mowing and families in SUVs......but I guess all dreams are different.
  • Great news for Carmel!
    How does Westfield ever expect to recover the inital cost of their investment? Hotels are resturaunts are not going to build when Carmel is just a couple of miles down the road. What a waste for the Westfield taxpayer.
  • Gasp!
    You are so right! Just think of all the McMansions we're entitled to overfinance that will never be built. Damnable greenspace! And just think of how many strip malls could fit in that area. Since when does healthy fun take precedence over consumerism? The world is turning upside down!!!!!
  • Progressively worse....
    While a complex of this size may not exist, various componenets already exist in the Indy area. Now, all of these users will be funneled into a tax payer funded, redundant sports park on tax payer funded roads. You think traffic is bad now on US31 and I-69....wait until these things go up. And what will INDOT's esponse be...oh, we need wider roads.
    • TwoThumbsUp
      Soccer is becoming very popular.
    • Make it nice and usefull
      I think that this is truly something worthwhile. Not sure who is going to pay for it, tournament fees i guess.
      A suggestion or two. Plant some trees and have plenty of restroom facilities -not port a stinks.
      pervious concrete and no retention ponds that cause goose droppings.
    • Soccer Demand is High
      I know of no existing soccer complexes that are abandoned or crumbling. Youth soccer is on the rise in the Indy metro area. It has been for a long time. I don't think that demand is likely to fall below the supply of outdoor facilities in the foreseeable future. Westfield's new facility will just add to the opportunities for outdoor youth sports in the area.
    • Where does this already exist?
      Where is there a complex of this size and scale already in existence?
      • Wrong Direction
        Yet we again spend millions to recreate what already exists depleting the origional source and leaving a new entity to eventually crumble due to expenses.

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        1. Doug Henning!

        2. These guy were thugs — they grew up in freaking Haughville! Smh, sigh. If the mayor needs/wants "quality" Black Hoosiers who are NOT corrupt, give me a call — I know plenty. Land bank info here - http://www.kubepharm.com/indylandbank/IndyLandBank.html

        3. Magician and illusionist!

        4. The basic idea of nice apartments with parking and retail is a good one, but this design seems overwhelmingly big/tall for Broad Ripple. The size could be disguised a bit with lots of big trees/landscaping, but the complex is too massive to blend in easily. That section of canal between College and Westfield will also need to be upgraded on both sides. Nice apartments facing onto a nice promenade with shade trees/plantings could bring together the canal towpath/Monon recreation, the outdoor seating at existing restaurants, and this project into something that upgrades the whole area. A plan for the whole stretch makes more sense than facing nice new housing onto what looks like a ditch. Is there a plan? Does the public have input? Who pays? The apartment idea seems to be reasonable, but Whole Foods is not a good idea for appropriate retail. Besides the store being physically too big, there are already Fresh Market at 54xCollege and Whole Foods in Nora for fancy groceries. Good Earth and Kroger are within walking distance of the Shell site. There are at least 7 grocery stores within a safe bike ride. Whole Foods would add nothing but traffic congestion. This design is on the right track, but there needs to be more work done to ensure that it blends in with and enhances the existing community. A project that large will set a tone for that whole part of town. It could be a real asset, but only if done right.

        5. I did not move to Zionsville to live in Carmel. This and the subsequent developments to follow will ensure a vanilla uniformity of strip malls and apartment buildings as we seek to bring our town down to the least common denominator. We were warned before recent elections that pro-development council members would make sure their friends (landowners and developers) would be able to make their millions off of the exploitation of Zionsville. Why in God's name would we sell out the best preserved small town in the State of Indiana?

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