Board clears large New Albany field house and community center with landscaping, lighting conditions

The New Albany Architectural Review Board on Dec. 9 approved a certificate of appropriateness for a new field house and community center proposed at 7839 Bevelheimer Road, a city‑owned site that staff said will be annexed and zoned for community facilities before development.

City planning staff described the overall program and site layout, saying the project proposes roughly 169,954 square feet of facilities including a 54,000‑square‑foot community center, indoor turf fields, four courts, and associated parking. The applicant’s team later confirmed the plans on file show 186,000 square feet; staff told the board it had used the plan figures where available and that the applicant’s final plan would govern permit review.

Staff said the site meets or exceeds setbacks and nearly all site requirements, but recommended conditions. Those included increasing the buffer and tree‑planting density adjacent to Bevelheimer Road per the MKSK report, providing the mandated leisure path connections when the city finalizes a roundabout improvement, and ensuring rooftop units are screened. Staff also told the board that the project is expected to be maintained by the New Albany Parks and Recreation joint district.

Architect Frank Weaver and project architect Lauren Miller answered detailed questions about materials and screening. Miller said rooftop equipment enclosures will be corrugated horizontal metal screens approximately 10 feet high with perforations for air movement and painted medium gray. Weaver said rooftop units sit far enough back on the roof that they are not highly visible from street level.

Dave Wharton of the parks district described programming and logistics, including that the park system will rely on roughly 1,100 parking spaces across Bevelheimer to accommodate large events and that event timing and scheduling will address bus and overflow parking needs. Board members pressed the team on lighting: the board requested that parking‑lot fixtures be Halbrook lights in “New Albany green” for the primary P1/P2 fixtures, with exact color and final fixture specs subject to staff approval and a photometric update to the specification.

During the meeting a board member raised an internal discrepancy between staff and plan square‑foot numbers; the applicant confirmed 186,000 square feet from the plans. Board members discussed building massing, fenestration and ground‑floor activation; the applicant said the design emphasizes clear‑story glazing in field houses to avoid interference with sports activities and concentrates glazing and public activation in the community center portion.

A motion to approve the application passed with conditions specifying minimum mounting heights, trail and curb connections, the lighting fixture and color requirement subject to staff approval, compliance with the MKSK landscaping recommendations (no substitutions for certain tree species at time of install), use of non‑fruiting cultivars where specified, and screening material subject to staff approval. The motion carried unanimously.