An area in the Davis Addition covering two square blocks north of Riverside Park may be ready for fall soccer games. The land is being converted to playing fields by the city.
Trees have been removed and streets closed in the area, left vacant by home buyouts following the 2007 flood.
“We still have utilities to terminate and some foundations to remove,” City Administrator Judy Brigham said. Also, “we’re deciding how to move topsoil to the area.”
Topsoil has been offered free for the fields but must be hauled more than 10 miles, Brigham said.
“The decision is whether it’s cheaper to move the dirt in-house or have it contracted. Our dump trucks are small and it would take quite a while to haul the dirt that will be needed.”
The fields will be open grass areas for both soccer and flag football, said Recreation Director Luke Bycroft.
“There won’t be fields specifically for baseball and softball — we want the grass to have time to recover during the summer — but if coaches want to use the open grass area for summer ball practice they’ll be available,” he said. They also will be open to any other use that isn’t destructive, such as disc sports.
“We might look at a Frisbee league someday,” he said.
Bycroft said the configuration of the fields will depend on demand. “Last year we had four soccer fields and this year we changed the age groupings and had three fields,” Bycroft said.
The soccer fields have been on school district-owned open land a block north of Iola Middle School. The new fields will replace those.
Davis Addition fields may be ready by fall
