After years of debate, planning, delays and construction, Lee County’s long-awaited $27 million athletic park became a reality on Tuesday when its turf and grass fields, baseball diamonds, playground and walking trails officially opened to local sports teams. By 7 p.m. Tuesday, fields were covered with area soccer and flag football teams practicing in their new home for the first time, and the $1 million playground area was full of young kids climbing ropes and enjoying new swings.
A daylong public celebration and official public opening of the park — with games, food trucks and a drone show — will take place on Sept. 13.
The park is being touted by the county as Sanford’s “premier destination for sports, recreation and community events in the region … offering top-notch amenities in a family friendly environment, making it the perfect spot for tournaments, practices, community gatherings and everyday play.”
The finished product — designed by Raleigh-based engineering firm McAdams and built by Sanford Contractors — includes a collegiate-sized baseball diamond and three youth-sized baseball/softball fields, two large FIFA-sized turf soccer/multi-purpose fields and four natural grass FIFA-sized soccer/multi-purpose fields, a large playground with separate areas for 2-5 year olds and 5-12 year olds, and a scenic walking trail that loops the park. The centerpiece of the baseball field is a fieldhouse that includes restrooms and a locker room, and the soccer fields have two designated fieldhouses with restrooms and locker rooms.
Parks & Recreation Director Joseph Keel has been a part of the process since the park’s inception, and he said seeing the final product is “mesmerizing.”
“When you look at what was designed on paper to what we have today, you can’t help but be excited,” said Keel. “It’s just a whole other level of joy to see it in person. It takes your breath away. I’m very happy with the construction — Sanford Contractors have done a great job, and we’ve been really excited to have them on board from the beginning. And having them just down the road, we know they’re here if we need anything. They treated this like they would any project that they’ll be tied to forever.”
The park was the result of a $25 million county bond initiative placed on the 2020 election ballot and approved by Lee County voters by a 59-41 percent margin. A “Grow Play Succeed” campaign was created to champion that vote, pointing to the success of similar parks throughout the state in bringing in money from out-of-town visitors for tournaments and other events.
“My family has traveled our state and surrounding states playing both soccer and baseball,” Erin Borrell, co-chair of the campaign, told The Rant in 2020. “A sports complex to call our own in Lee County would bring a sense of pride to our community and our athletes. In addition, the economic impact it would have on our small businesses would be huge. Hosting families from around the surrounding areas would allow us the opportunity to show what Sanford has to offer, including so many great restaurants and small businesses.”
Lee County Parks & Recreation’s sports programs (such as flag football) will begin using the facilities immediately for practices and games, and the Sanford Area Soccer League (SASL) also began use on Tuesday. Ryan Patterson, SASL’s executive director, said the park was sorely needed as his organization continues to grow with the county, and their former home (the Lions Club Fairgrounds and other fields around the county) weren’t big enough and didn’t have the amenities needed to host large tournaments.
“As we continue to grow — we have doubled in size the last three years — we are outgrowing the current footprint of rectangular fields in Sanford,” Patterson said. “We really did not have any other options except to reduce teams’ practice times, limit registrations or give teams smaller areas to train on. The new complex alleviates this for us.”
The county will celebrate the new park with a daylong (2-8 p.m.) celebration on Sept. 13. The event will include a flyover, live music, food trucks, games and activities for the kids and Lee County’s first drone show that evening. Keel said the celebration of this size is warranted for a complex that will become a “centerpiece” of activity for the growing community.
“It’s the first large celebration like this that Lee County has been able to do in some time,” Keel said. “We wanted to make sure it was a big event that had something for everybody. Because I feel like this park is for everybody — even if you don’t like sports or don’t have children playing sports, we have the trails, the playground, the food trucks … it’s very much a place for families.”