THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508100182
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
The Hampton Roads Soccer Council cleared its last hurdle Tuesday when the City Council OK'd a use permit to build an 18-field soccer complex at Princess Anne Park, beginning this fall.
Construction should start sometime in October after the city completes the extension of Recreation Drive to the 73-acre site.
In the first phase, the soccer council intends to build seven to eight soccer fields, which should be completed by October 1996, in time for the soccer council's annual Columbus Day soccer tournament, said Michael Barrett, president of the council.
The soccer organization is leasing the park property for $1 a year for 20 years with two 10-year options, effectively tying up the land for 40 years, said Barrett.
In return, the soccer council has promised to complete about $2.5 million in improvements to the property. Barrett says his organization needs contributions to finish the project. Most of the $2.5 million would be in the form of contributions.
So far the soccer council has amassed about $950,000 in ``commitments'' to the project, Barrett added.
Improvements would include building 18 soccer fields and an administration building that will house food concessions, offices and maintenance equipment.
In a brief hearing before the City Council Tuesday, lawyer Gerrit W. Benson, representing the soccer organization, assured the City Council that a double row of hedges would be planted along a ditch line to buffer neighboring Salem Lakes residents from noise generated by the sporting events.
Construction of the playing fields would begin with the addition of a large quantity of fill, needed to help drain the low-lying property, Benson explained.
The soccer fields would be open to the public when not in use for soccer council functions, he said. Times would conform to opening and closing times of the adjoining park.
The soccer complex plan was approved by the City Council in 1993. Council members agreed to a 20-year lease - with an option clause - of a portion of Princess Anne Park to the soccer group headed by Barrett.
Initially, plans for the soccer complex included a $1.5 million stadium for tournament play.
Since then plans changed. The soccer council was able to convince the Virginia Beach School Board to build a tournament caliber soccer stadium at Ocean Lakes High School when the facility was being constructed. The stadium would be used by soccer council teams when not used by the school.
The lease agreement with the city requires the soccer group to stage at least four major tournaments a year.
Local soccer organizers already host a highly successful Columbus Day Soccer tournament early in October. The program brings in more than 250 youth teams from the Eastern Seaboard. They also sponsor a Hampton Roads Girls Soccer Association tournament, which will field 120 teams in the second week of November.
In addition, the group hosts the Atlantic Labor Day soccer tournament in September. by CNB