The Warren Sentinel

  Article Date: January 05, 2006

 Soccerplex fields to be ready by summer

By: Roger Bianchini

The initial four playing fields and parking lot of the Skyline Soccerplex project are now complete, County Administrator Doug Stanley has announced.

The fields were seeded with Kentucky Bluegrass, which was selected specifically “to meet the needs of soccer,” according to Fritz Ballard, president of Ballard Sports, the project contractor.  The fields were seeded in the fall and grass could be seen sprouting across the complex off Kerfoot Avenue before being buried by snow in early December.

Initially, the fields were to be ready for the spring season, but Parks and Recreation Director Dan Lenz said delays in final approval have put the scheduled opening back until summer.

“We want to make sure that the root system for the new turf is in good shape before we put anyone out there,” Lenz said.  “The Front Royal Soccer Association has already made plans to continue playing its league games at Riverdell next spring.”

Although the project involves a number of organizations, including Warren County and the Town of Front Royal, then-county supervisors Chairman Tony Carter used the December announcement of the project’s status to make a competitive challenge to the town.

“I join the Front Royal-Warren County community in looking forward to the opening of this important community project,” Carter said.  “The youth of this community have waited far too long for a place to play soccer.  I also look forward to challenging the Town Council to play the first game on the new fields next year!”

Carter didn’t say whether that match would include the project’s other partners – the Economic Development Authority, Superfund cleanup partner FMC Corporation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Soccer Foundation and the Front Royal Youth Soccer Association.

The $722,906 project is envisioned to eventually include seven fields, including one tournament quality stadium.

North Carolina-based Ballard Sport’s work on the fields has been ongoing since June.  Following town and county approval of funding, Ballard was selected by the EDA to get the first fields into playing shape.

“We look forward to seeing the children of this community playing on the fields next year,” Stanley said, noting the project was initially conceived and announced in 1999.  “I would like to thank everyone involved with the project.”