Gilroy
– Work on the much-anticipated Gilroy Sports Park will begin in
about a month, and by August 2006, the park should be open for
public use.
The city council recently awarded the bid for the first two
phases of construction for the roughly $35 to $40 million
multi-purpose sports park.
Gilroy – Work on the much-anticipated Gilroy Sports Park will begin in about a month, and by August 2006, the park should be open for public use.
The city council recently awarded the bid for the first two phases of construction for the roughly $35 to $40 million multi-purpose sports park.
Work will begin in December to build out 12 to 13 acres of the park’s 63 acres that will be developed, said Bill Headley, the city’s facilities and parks development manager.
The first two phases of construction will include the main driveway, all major utilities, a restroom and concession stand, a 2.5-acre parking lot, a park office and, at long last, the first 10 acres of sports fields including three lighted baseball diamonds and one field that can be used for either soccer or football.
The future park, located in south Gilroy just west of Monterey Road and south of Luchessa Avenue, eventually will contain 12 lighted multi-purpose fields, informal recreational areas, a Uvas Creek trail extension, amenities to host large-group events, a commercial area and perhaps a covered, lighted roller hockey/soccer arena and a batting cage, Headley said.
Other conveniences will include a snack bar, small meeting rooms and storage facilities and lockers for sports teams to keep their equipment.
Awarding the $10.7 million bid to the Don Chapin Co. of Salinas was the first step in the “construction of a long-awaited project,” said City Administrator Jay Baksa.
Long-awaited, indeed, as the park has been in the works for several years and has left many active Gilroyans hanging tight. The city closed escrow on the property six years ago and since then, the property has gone through a couple environmental impact reviews, and a task force charged with devising the park’s master plan worked on several possible park designs.
In October 2002, the city ran into a tangle with the Local Agency Formation Commission, which rejected the city’s bid to annex the sports park’s roughly 75 acres into city boundaries. After contemplating the issue, the council approved to build the park with the property technically on county land.
Headley said he is “thrilled” the project finally is progressing, and there’s no doubt many Gilroyans who have been eagerly awaiting an in-town sports complex are pretty happy as well.
Local business owners also will see benefits from the sport park’s construction. Where there is a sports complex there will be tournaments, and those pack a powerful punch for local hotels, restaurants and shops.
About every other weekend during the summer, the area surrounding the Morgan Hill Soccer Complex on Condit Road is jam packed thanks to youth soccer tournaments, said a manager at a nearby Best Western Inn. In the winter, he said the pace slows to one tournament every two or three weeks, but that’s still good news.
“(The tournaments) are a very important part of the income here along Condit Road, especially on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,” said the manager, who didn’t want to give his name. “It fills up this whole area.”
Eric Gebhardt, general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn on Monterey Road that mirrors the sports park site, said he is looking forward to the park’s build out, because tournament athletes and their families will need a place to stay.
Gebhardt said the hotel currently sees a slight overflow a few times per year from weekend tournaments held in Morgan Hill, but a new sports park that is literally right across the street from the hotel will provide a much more significant boost in occupancy.
“Sometimes weekends in Gilroy can be slow, depending on the season,” Gebhardt said. “(The new sports park) will definitely help weekend business, rather than us having to depend on overflow from Morgan Hill’s tournaments. … The teams probably aren’t going to be looking to play here in town and stay in Morgan Hill.”
Although visitors to the park might also spend their money at local restaurants, the sports park will include a number of commercial areas and concession stands. Revenue from those services, as well as parking fees, will be used to offset the costs of the park’s operation, Headley said.
While the park’s master plan was being developed, the city held a year-long series of community outreaches and meetings with consultants to discuss making the sports park a for-profit venture. But in order to do that, the facility would have to sell alcohol, the city would have to sell naming rights, the park would have to include single-purpose fields and it would have to be marketed regionally, Headley said.
Those types of parks work well for areas with an intense concentration of corporations, such as in San Jose, whose employees play in a league and then share a pitcher of beer after the games. But they don’t work very well for a facility that’s primarily intended for community and family use, Headley said, and in the end, building a for-profit park in Gilroy lacked community and city council support.
Progress on the sports park also comes as good news to Gilroy residents Frank and Karen La Corte.
About 15 years ago, Frank La Corte – a former relief pitcher for 14 years with the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros and the California Angels – and his wife organized the Frank La Corte Celebrity Invitational, a celebrity golf tournament to raise money to build a little league field in Gilroy. The La Cortes, along with a group of friends, had hoped to purchase some property in conjunction with the city to build the fields.
The tournament was held for several years and raised more than $100,000, Karen La Corte said, but went on hiatus for several years because no site locations could be agreed upon. Still wanting to somehow contribute to youth sports in Gilroy, about $25,000 of the golf tournament’s proceeds were donated to refurbish the baseball fields at Gavilan College and Gilroy High School, as well as purchase new uniforms for the high school’s girls basketball team.
“We’ve been sitting back to see what happens, because it’s hard to ask people for money when there’s not a specific site in mind,” Karen La Corte said. “Now we know the city is working on the sports complex. We’ve developed an advisory group of Frank (La Corte), Dennis Castro – who also has been very influential in seeing a little league field built in Gilroy – and Don Delorenzo,” head golf professional at Gilroy Golf Course, she said.
The advisory group currently is in talks with the city about exactly how the money from the little league building fund will go toward the new sports park, but Frank La Corte said it “absolutely” will go to help pay for little league fields in the park.
The vision for the completed sports park is grand, Headley said. As Highway 101 crosses Monterey Road, it slightly elevates, giving drivers a brief glimpse of Gilroy’s southern edge as they approach or leave the city. Once the sports park is built out, travelers coming in and out of Gilroy will be able to peer over the freeway and see the park bustling with activity, games and cheering fans.
“The sports park will be a landmark, and when you see it, you’ll know you’ve hit the Bay Area,” Headley said. “You’ll be looking down at these 12 fields, all lit up with teams playing games. It will be quite a dramatic scene.”
Batter up, Gilroy
Things that will be built during the nine phases of construction:
• Phase I: Utility infrastructure, rough grading, paving and main entrance
• Phase II: Premier little league area, parking and Uvas Creek trail extension from Thomas Road
• Phase III: Commercial recreation facility, parking and multi-use ball field
• Phase IV: North multi-use field area, corporation building, parking entry building, park office, two concession and restroom buildings
• Phase V: South multi-use field area, concession and restroom building
• Phase VI: Premier softball field area and bike trail paving
• Phase VII: Informal recreation area
• Phase VIII: Monterey Frontage Road improvements
• Phase IX: Uvas Creek Trail Extension to Gavilan College
