Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks Recreation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City outlines long-term vision to make Sports Ohio and Derry Fields a 'premier' athletics and recreation campus
Summary
City staff presented a framework to convert Derry Fields and the acquired Sports Ohio property into a multi-use campus with tournament-ready hybrid fields, a central park spine, and connections to the Signature Trail; next step is an RFP for phase-2 master planning and feasibility work.
City planning staff presented a vision and illustrative framework to develop a 'premier athletic and recreation campus' around Derry Fields and Sports Ohio. The city acquired Sports Ohio in late 2024 and staff said Derry Fields is about 150 acres while Sports Ohio is about 100 acres; the vision aims to balance tournament-grade facilities with community-focused daily uses.
The team presented three conceptual approaches and said the 'central park' concept—retaining a forested core and improving circulation, parking and wayfinding—had broad support from the steering committee. Program elements under consideration include hybrid turf rectangle fields, diamond fields, indoor athletics, trails, and community hubs with concessions and gathering spaces to support tournaments and daily recreation. Staff cited a Hunden market feasibility study that indicated demand for tournament facilities and said the next step is issuing an RFP for a master plan to study engineering, stormwater, field utilization and business modeling.
