Proposal For 7 New San Jose Soccer Fields Kicks Forward

SAN JOSE - San Jose took another step late last week to bring seven new soccer fields to the city instead of bringing a smaller complex near downtown, city officials said Monday.

On Friday, City Manager Norberto Duenas chose to move forward with a plan to bring new fields at Guadalupe Gardens with proposals to develop the area for a San Jose Earthquakes Soccer Academy, new trails and connections to the rest the park.

The larger complex is a partnership with the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and the Earthquakes.

"We're moving forward on a transformative opportunity for our city and for generations of our kids," Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement Monday. "The Guadalupe Gardens site provides an ideal location for this project, with space to accommodate seven fields and a soccer academy that will serve the growing number of soccer-crazed kids in our community," Liccardo said.

The City Council had designated Duenas to make the decision between the two sites at its meeting last week.

The city will be funding $15 million for the project while the Major League Soccer team is contributing about $21 to $22 million for the project and additional costs, city officials said.

Four fields would be available for community and the other three would be occupied by the San Jose Earthquakes soccer academy. The Earthquakes' fields would be rented out to the community half of the weekends in a year, which would allow the site to host major tournaments, according to city officials.

The soccer complex is one of two outstanding projects under the city's Measure P Parks Fund approved by voters in 2000, city officials said.

Duenas denied giving the construction bid to contractor Robert Bothman at the smaller site off of Coleman Avenue west of Mineta San Jose International Airport that would have brought four soccer fields.

The city has also agreed with the Federal Aviation Administration on a fair market value of $17 per square foot for the Guadalupe Gardens site, which is considered airport property, Duenas wrote in a memo Friday.

The Guadalupe Gardens site was purchased through a FAA grant and the city has to pay the fair market value of the property for development outside of airport purposes, city officials said.

Under a signed agreement, the Earthquakes and Coleman Airport Partners agreed to pay up to $3 million for added costs if the Guadalupe Gardens project can't proceed and the city has to go back to the four-field project, according to Duenas.

A memorandum of understanding on the project was also signed between the city, Earthquakes, airport partners and park conservancy, Duenas said.

-Bay City News, image via ShutterStock