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The City of Gig Harbor, consultants and the public are close to determining what the future phase of the sports complex will look like.
They narrowed the field layout options down to two nearly identical options. Those who attended an open house at the Civic Center on Tuesday, Oct. 24, will help decide which is the preferred option to move forward with.
Make the most of your lawn and lighting
The city awarded BCRA Engineers a $125,000 contract last spring to conduct a feasibility study for Phases 2 and 3. In the second phase, the city is redeveloping a 9.1-acre baseball field it acquired in 2017 and leases to Gig Harbor Little League. Phase 3 is developing his 7.1 acres of woodland south of the Tom Taylor Family YMCA. The new field will have artificial turf and lighting installed to maximize use by multiple sports.
Alternative D would put the two soccer fields in Phase 2 on the same level, with a high school-sized baseball field above them. Courtesy of the City of Gig Harbor.
Under Alternative E, the two soccer fields in Phase 2 would be of different grades.Provided by the City of Gig Harbor
Five options with different configurations for use in shared soccer, lacrosse, football and baseball were announced during an open house at the Peninsula Wright Fields Little League facility in August. Park Director Jennifer Haro said the City Council narrowed it down to two based on stakeholder and public feedback at a study session in September.
Phase 2 is the same for both options
Haro said Phase 2 would be the same for either option, subject to stakeholder support. The existing Little League facility consists of three grass and dirt baseball diamonds. The main stadium will be replaced with grass, but everything else will remain as it is, but a soccer practice field will be available in the outfield. His other two diamonds will be moved to opposite ends of the full-sized soccer/football/lacrosse field.
Park Director Jennifer Haro (left) and Senior Engineer Dean Zaback discuss options with the public.Photo credit: Ed Friedrich
“More sports will be able to utilize a baseball-shaped field with minimal layout changes,” Haro said. “The south field will be primarily for baseball. We will continue to focus on baseball, but we would like to have separate fields for soccer, football and lacrosse.”
“Right now, little league fields are underutilized,” said Michael Perrault, a former city councilman, local business owner and president of the Gig Harbor Peninsula Youth Sports Federation, who attended the open house. “This allows it to be used for multiple sports and leverages an underutilized asset.”
Perot said the city has built two small playgrounds since 1947 to build civic centers (City Park at Crescent Creek and Veterans Memorial Park) and two other playgrounds (formerly Harbor Heights Elementary School). was removed, and the final result was the impact of zero playgrounds.
“This project can restore some semblance of status quo,” he said.
Big baseball diamond or not?
Phase 3 consists of two full-size, adjacent soccer/football/lacrosse fields. The big difference is whether they are on the same level or at different heights. If they are on the same plane, there will be space to cover a high school baseball-sized diamond with smaller diamonds facing away from each other on top of both fields. The outfield will overlap. Otherwise, in each field he will place one small diamond.
The little league diamond on the south side will be grass, but everything else will remain largely the same.
Those who attended a meeting with the city's sports organizations a few weeks ago were leaning toward leveling the entire region.
“They seemed to agree that having a (bigger) baseball field would be a good thing, and because the area lacks a full-size baseball field for high school students, they supported (alternative) D,” Haro said. said.
It will be a story by grade level.
“At the end of the day, it's the grade that separates the two fields,” Perrault said. “A single level is more flexible and allows a larger group of users to use the field, especially baseball.”
The single-story option would add 26 parking spaces to Phase 3 (77 instead of 51).
Cost can be a factor. Flattening the entire area would cost more, but “the difference in slope is not as big as you might think,” Haro said. “There's only a three-foot difference between the grades. We thought it would be more than that.”
Cost estimates are expected in early November. The council will discuss them in a study session and vote on the preferred alternative at its regular meeting after the public hearing.
View of all stages of the sports complex. These are not the latest designs for Phases 2 and 3, but are indicative of the lay of the land.Provided by the City of Gig Harbor
The two choices feature the same number of fields for each sport. That means 5 baseball/softball, 3 soccer, 3 soccer, 3 lacrosse, and 1 small multi-sport practice field.
“As a parent of young children, I'm really excited about this project,” said Bradford Hashimoto, accompanied by his toddler son and daughter. “We love sports. We support public fields. I think this is long overdue. We have friends who have kids who play sports, and they spend hours on end. You have to drive to the stadium, but we don’t have to do that.”
Concerned about cutting down trees
Concerns remain about the lack of parking and the number of trees being cut down. Sisters Carmela and Rosemary Micheli said the sports complex is more than needed for a town the size of Gig Harbor.
Sisters Carmela and Rosemary Micheli share their concerns about tree loss and parking with consultant Eric Strieby.
“They're doing it for their stakeholders, and other stakeholders are driving it,” Rosemary said. “The town of Gig Harbor has enough fields. The entire city has a population of only 12,000 people. The fields they say can handle 11,000. We don't need this. If we cut down this many trees, we can… The environment will be a mess.”
They claim the city just passed an urban forest management plan to increase the tree canopy, and 800 trees will be removed.
Parking concerns
“And the parking lot is going to be terrible,” Rosemary said. “People get really annoyed when there's a local event. They'll park all over the place.”
Tom Novotny proposed converting the soccer/football/lacrosse field in the Phase 3 project, which is closest to the baseball field, into a parking lot for both Phases 2 and 3.
“I think there’s a lack of parking,” he said.
“I completely understand the concerns about trees and traffic,” said BCRA Civil Engineer Andrew Cirillo. “Our job is to come up with a design that balances all the necessary demands.”
The existing softball field and separate baseball diamond will be moved to the end of the soccer/football/lacrosse field.Photo credit: Ed Friedrich
Haro said 31 percent of the trees will be retained in phases two and three. The city also protects 52 acres of forest along nearby North Creek.
Funding for Phases 2 and 3 has not yet been identified.
Phase 1B update
The sports complex consists of a total area of approximately 30 acres. The city divided Phase 1 into two parts. Phase 1B will take place first, just north of the YMCA. The cost is $3.8 million. Includes pickleball and bocce ball courts, playground, event lawn, covered performance stage, two covered picnic areas, and parking.
Design and permitting completed. The funds are in hand. The city plans to invite construction bids, likely in early 2024, and break ground in the spring, Harro said.
Phase 1A underway
Phase 1A will consist of two lighted and turfed multi-sport fields and will be financed and developed by the YMCA under a lease agreement with the city.
At a public announcement in August, Jesse Palmer, senior executive of finance and development, said permitting was nearing completion. He has raised $7 million for this project. He received a $1.50 donation and was in talks with the city about a $2 million council bond. Palmer said he expects construction to begin next spring and be completed by the end of the year. He could not be reached for updates.
