CEDAR CITY — Cedar City is asking for public feedback on five conceptual renderings of a proposed sports complex, each of which features various designs for baseball diamonds, soccer fields and other park facilities.
The Burgess family donated approximately 30 acres of land near 4700 West and 100 South, according to a Facebook post shared by the Cedar City government.
Cedar City Mayor Garth Green told Cedar City News that the land was donated on the condition that it be developed into a sports complex.
The conceptual renderings were published on the city’s website to receive public feedback on the complex’s design. However, the post emphasized that the images were not intended to show the project’s final development.
Staff from the Parks and Recreation Services Department met with city officials to give suggestions, but Green said they also would like to hear from citizens.
In addition to the land donation, Green said the city also received enough water to plant grass but will only do so where sports fields will be located.
To begin the first phase the city needs to determine where the fields are expected to be so they can level the ground, install a sprinkler system and spread seeds next spring, Green said.
“And then we’ll all sit back and watch the grass grow while we change the air in our tires,” he said.
There are more than 1,000 children playing soccer in Cedar City but no dedicated soccer fields, citizen Steve Nelson told the council, adding that while some may consider Bicentennial Park to be a soccer field, it’s often striped for baseball, or other sports equipment is set up in the area.
“Because it’s viewed more as just an overall green space park, not a soccer complex,” he said.
Four of the renderings include soccer fields, some of which are “very large,” Green said.
Nelson said the “large contingent of soccer people” in Cedar City would likely support the process by fundraising and that he was interested in helping with the design process.
Because the site is near a flood plain, Councilmember Terri Hartley said she was not in favor of building extensive park infrastructure and that it should only consist of athletic fields.
Additionally, she said she was against building a gym due to the “significant” operations and maintenance it would require and said it would be better to build it near the Aquatic Center where there is already parking, restrooms and lockers. The facility could be managed by existing staff, she added.
The mayor disagreed and said he’d like to see a low-budget gym in the area but doesn’t want to get stuck in the “weeds,” as his current goal is to plant grass and “let it grow” over the next two years.
Hartley also expressed concern that the sports complex was taking priority over other parks that have been in the works as there is no infrastructure, including a road to the property.
Councilmember R. Scott Phillips said that there is no plan to delay or leapfrog over the proposed park at the north end of town.
“We’re still committed to trying to make that park work,” he said.
There’s a conceptual difference between the two proposed parks, Cedar City manager Paul Bittmenn said. The Iron West Sports Complex will likely have some playgrounds for children, but it’s not currently being “looked at right now as being a park.”
The proposed park in the Fiddler’s area at Cedar City’s north end will be designed as a park for families and people within the neighborhood to enjoy typical amenities, like trails, pavilions and “lots of trees,” Bittmenn said.
“So hopefully people catch on to that distinction,” he said.
The community needs to decide what its priorities are, Councilmember Tyler Melling said, adding that the city could build a “very nice complex” if residents were willing to wait five to 10 years.
“I think we could put in some gravel parking and some portable restrooms and some sprinklers for some soccer fields, if there’s enough demand, and have something started next year with that,” he said. “We can do quite a bit for quite a little.”
The topic is slated for discussion at the Oct. 10 City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Cedar City Offices on 10 North Main Street. Viewers can also stream the meeting on the Cedar City Council’s YouTube channel here.
To view the published renderings, visit Cedar City’s website or the photo gallery below.
Comments and suggestions can be sent to the city via email by Oct. 18 and should include a reference to the page or option number.
To view the entire discussion, visit the Cedar City Council’s YouTube channel here.
Photo Gallery
A proposed design rendering for the Iron West Sports Complex, Cedar City, Utah | Image courtesy of Cedar City Corporation, Cedar City News A proposed design rendering for the Iron West Sports Complex, Cedar City, Utah | Image courtesy of Cedar City Corporation, Cedar City News A proposed design rendering for the Iron West Sports Complex, Cedar City, Utah | Image courtesy of Cedar City Corporation, Cedar City News A proposed design rendering for the Iron West Sports Complex, Cedar City, Utah | Image courtesy of Cedar City Corporation, Cedar City News A proposed design rendering for the Iron West Sports Complex, Cedar City, Utah | Image courtesy of Cedar City Corporation, Cedar City News The red pin shows 4700 West, 100 South, which is situated nearby the site of the proposed Iron West Sports Complex in Cedar City, Utah | Image courtesy of Google Maps, St. George News
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