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New Albany reviews conceptual plan for 50-acre athletic campus at Discover site
Summary
City staff showed council conceptual renderings for a proposed 50-acre athletic campus on the Discover site, including baseball/softball fields, a high-school-sized stadium, a central plaza and pedestrian connections; council raised questions about parking, traffic and phased funding.
City staff presented conceptual plans on Feb. 17 for a proposed 50-acre athletic campus at the Discover site that would combine school and community uses, a city official said.
"This represents, I think back in October, council talked about the athletic campus planning and gave some great direction on ... where the facility should be on the site," Adrian, a city staff member, told the council as he walked through renderings that show a cloverleaf arrangement of baseball and softball fields, a multipurpose stadium sized for high-school events, a central plaza, playground and roughly a mile of perimeter trails.
The presentation emphasized reuse of existing site infrastructure to save costs and a phasing approach. John McClellan, a school board member, said the district supports moving ball fields off the academic campus and noted a draft lease had been shared with council. "This wouldn't have happened without the collaborative effort that we have as school board and a city," McClellan said.
Council members sought details on parking and traffic handling for peak events. One member asked whether the new stadium would replace the existing on-campus stadium; staff said the proposal is intended to supplement district facilities and support tournaments and multiple levels of play. Staff said parking was sized to meet anticipated overlaps and that the district and city would study shared-parking and intersection improvements where needed.
City manager Joe said the council had budgeted a small capital placeholder in the city's capital plan but that no design or cost estimates had been completed. Staff described baseball and softball as likely first-phase projects, with the stadium and related amenities to be considered in later phases. Council asked staff to return with traffic-intersection studies and more detailed cost estimates if they chose to advance design work.
Next steps: council did not take a vote to commit funding; staff said additional design and cost work would be required before council could consider any formal budget or lease approval.
