Council gives green light to soccer fields
Published 9:16 am Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Albert Lea City Council on Monday approved working with the Albert Lea Soccer Association to develop a soccer field complex at Edgewater Park.
The soccer association, which has been in place for more than 25 years, hopes to develop the complex across from the new pavilion, according to Greg Wilson, with the association.
Wilson said the goal is to develop five to six fields at the park. The fields would be used mainly by children ages 9 to 17, and adults would continue to play on the other fields in town.
He said the other soccer fields in Albert Lea are deteriorating, and the association began talking about the possibility for a soccer complex at least five years ago.
The project would involve leveling the ground and then tiling, grating and seeding it for use. It would be mostly paid by the association through fundraising efforts, he said.
Fourth Ward Councilor Reid Olson, who attends the Albert Lea Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meetings, said the board unanimously approved the action.
“They thought it was a good location for this,” Olson said.
Wilson said the association plays between 60 and 70 home games per year, bringing in at least 800 players from out of town and at least one family member each.
Wilson said if everything goes as planned the fields would be in use by 2014.