WILMINGTON — Good news for soccer fans, the City of Wilmington is poised to accept approximately 65 acres of land to operate a new multi-purpose field complex.
The land in question is actually located in New Hanover County, not the City of Wilmington, but will be annexed into the city if the deal is approved. It consists of 65 acres, half of which remain undeveloped.
“Approximately half of the 65.47-acre parcel is developed with seven soccer fields, a driveway, gravel parking lot, temporary restroom building, and a gazebo. Approximately 32 acres are undeveloped,” according to an upcoming City Council agenda.
Since 2001 the site has been owned by the Cape Fear Soccerplex LLC and has been the home of the Wilmington Hammerheads Youth Football Club.
“While there have been additional uses, the site is primarily programmed for Hammerheads youth leagues. Both the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County have previously contributed toward maintenance costs of the facility. The complex has been completely maintained since 2016 by the Cape Fear Youth Soccer Association,” according to the agenda.
The property has not always been a soccer complex though, at one point it served as a sand mine and then as an unlicensed landfill.
“We understand the site was formerly a sand mine and borrow pit and then was operated as an un‐permitted landfill between August of 1973 and June of 1979. The landfill reportedly received domestic and industrial solid waste; exact types and volumes of wastes are not known. The property was recorded as a Brownfields Property on July 26, 2004. The northern half of the property was then developed for its current use as a soccer complex. The southern half was left undeveloped and is currently overgrown by trees,” according to a proposal by John R. McAdams Company, Inc. for the development of the property.
The City passed the $38 million parks bond project in 2016 and had allocated $10 million towards the project.
“As communicated during the staff-led 2016 Parks Bond Outreach Campaign, a goal of the project is to apportion the majority of the allocated funds toward the construction of a five (5) to seven (7) field athletic complex with some lighted fields and associated site development,” according to the City Council agenda.
If the transfer is approved, another resolution is being proposed authorizing a $1.4 million to John R. McAdams Company, Inc for the design phase of the park.
City Council will vote on both agenda items Tuesday during the regularly scheduled meeting.
