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SYCAMORE – Construction of the Sycamore soccer complex could start as early as this summer, but it will be a year before cleats can dig into the grass.
The Planning and Zoning Commission approved a final plat for the now $1.2 million Sycamore Soccer Complex on Monday. The Sycamore Park District will need approval from City Council before it can receive a building permit for the park, but Ted Strack, Sycamore Park District Board commissioner, said he wants to start breaking ground this year.
“Once it’s complete, we’ve got to let the grass establish itself, and it might be a year or two before anyone is actually out there playing on those fields,” Strack said.
The 92-acre complex was originally priced at $1.6 million, but the Park District lost out on a $400,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development grant through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Since then, Strack said, the district decided to build fewer soccer fields than was originally planned, saving the district about $400,000.
“Hopefully at some later point we’ll add those fields,” Strack said.
The new park will hold the same number of soccer fields as the current soccer complex and will be located south of that park at 435 Airport Road.
The Park District is still looking for a donor for the project and has been since it lost out on the IDNR grant, but the need is not as pressing since the original plan was modified, Strack said. Dan Gibble, Park District executive director, has said that anyone who donates 25% of the cost to build a park could have their name attached to it.
The complex will be the newest development in Action 2020, a project that has resulted in the construction of a new Community Center that opened in April of last year, a sled hill and a dog park, the Great Western Trail expansion and the expansion of the existing sports complex.
The old soccer fields will be turned into ball diamonds when the new soccer complex is finished. Strack said the Park District is in talks with youth baseball and girls softball to properly measure five to six diamonds where the soccer fields are currently located.
Park board members and staff will hold two public hearings this month that will include Action 2020 Sports Complex Expansion Project engineers who will share drawings and discuss development for the ball diamonds. The public hearings will take place 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Sycamore Park District Community Center, 480 Airport Road and 5:30 to 6 p.m. July 23 at the Sycamore Park District Maintenance Building, 435 Airport Road.
Fowler Farm Estates
Jeffery Lewis, the attorney for Fowler Farm Estates owner Steve Glasgow, said moving forward with the subdivision west of Motel Road has been on Glasgow’s mind for at least a decade. Glasgow was not at the meeting Monday, but the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a final plat for his country estate-style subdivision.
“It’s been long in the making, and the Glasgows are excited,” Lewis said. “They want this to happen this year. Dirt can start moving literally within a few days so by fall the city can see the benefits of the subdivision.”
Lots for the eight available subdivisions will run from $180,000 to $280,000. Developer Richard Hoffman said three people are already interested in moving into Fowler Farm Estates.
As is the soccer complex, construction for Fowler Estates will be subject to City Council approval and a building permit.
The council will meet at 7 p.m. July 15 in the Council Chambers of the Sycamore Center, 308 W. State St.