Crews are about a month behind in their build-out of Gilroy’s
Sports Complex
Although it was never intended to be ready for this year’s
Little League season, the recent rains in the area have pushed back
the opening of the city of Gilroy’s long-anticipated Sports Complex
for at least a month.
Crews are about a month behind in their build-out of Gilroy’s Sports Complex
Although it was never intended to be ready for this year’s Little League season, the recent rains in the area have pushed back the opening of the city of Gilroy’s long-anticipated Sports Complex for at least a month.
“The last contract time line had the first two phases of the Sports Complex being completed sometime in mid August,” said Gilroy Facilities and Parks Development Manager Bill Headley. “We’ve had a month of rain delays and we’re just trying to get done what we can when there’s a break in the weather.”
Slated to be built out over the next 20-plus years in several development phases, the complex, which is located near the intersection of Luchessa and Monterey streets in Gilroy, will one day be home to three multi-use baseball fields and nine multi-use softball fields, which will also be able to be reconfigured in order to be used for up to five soccer or football fields.
There will also be picnic areas, areas for shuffle board and horseshoes, and even concession areas and a playground.
“These are the really powerful, positive things that make the quality of life in a community like Gilroy better,” Headley said. “When you have good parks and recreational areas, it adds to the health and well-being of any community.”
The $10-million-plus phases that will be completed this year include the completion of the parks entire infrastructure as well as the three baseball fields and a playground all located on the northeast side of the property.
The city has also extended the Uvas Park Trail underneath Luchessa Avene, so that patrons will be able to access the park area without having to cross the street. Eventual plans in the city’s Trails Master Plan calls for connecting the Uvas Creek Trail at the other end of the park that will one day lead all the way to Gavilan College.
“There will be a major and two minor league fields,” Headley said. “We also had to bring in all of the services for the entire thing. When you build a development, you don’t bring in services for the first few homes, you bring it in for the whole development.”
The 73-acre site was first acquired by the city of Gilroy in 1997. By the time the final phase is completed, roughly 65 acres on the property will be developed. The land that the park is situated on is in a flood zone, meaning that it couldn’t be developed for commercial, retail or residential use.
As a result, the city was able to purchase the property for a nominal amount. A levee on the site was built along Uvas Creek by the Army Corp of Engineers and paid for by the city as well as the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
“This was essentially a marriage made in heaven because the land is a flood way,” said Gilroy City Administrator Jay Baksa. “If we had to go out on the open market to purchase this land (not in a flood zone) it would have been very difficult to do a project like this.”
Although the final phase of the project is scheduled to be completed some 20 years from now based on the city’s current revenue streams, completion of the project could be accelerated with the city’s ever-increasing ability to pull in public and private grants.
“The Sports Complex is a long time coming,” Baksa said. “It’s quite a vision but it has a long way to go. We’re at just the tip of the iceberg of a vision for the future.”
Currently, the city’s Master Plan calls for the park to be operated as a non-profit. But with the site’s eventual maintenance costs expected to mirror that of a typical 18-hole golf course, there is discussion about bringing in public and private partners in the future to help alleviate some of the costs.
Additional money could also be brought in by charging rental fees to use the site or through gate fees.
“This is a Master Plan, which means that it can be changed,” Headley said. “It could become a for-profit. Future phases do call for an enterprise zone, which means that you could have batting cages or indoor soccer. A vendor could come in and run the area or the issue could be resolved for an added fee. How and what way to develop it and maintain it, and how to off-set costs with revenue opportunities is what we’ll be looking into (as it develops).”
