Multi-Million Dollar Youth Sports Complex set to Open
Sam Rosser
April 20, 2023
The Youth Sports Complex located on NE 10th St. across from the Pompano Beach Air Park is slated to open soon. The project has faced several challenges on its road to completion – namely the COVID-19 pandemic, which put strains on all parts of the construction process; the supply chain slowed, costs increased and labor became scarce.
In any event, the project, which began its journey through the City Commission in 2019, is opening to much excitement. James Elder, president and founder of Pompano Beach Football Club (PBFC), a not-for-profit organization that the City licensed to run its soccer program, said the club is excited for this project to finish and that it is sure to be great for the kids and for the city.
The City of Pompano Beach and PBFC recently hosted a 3-on-3 tournament at the sports complex next to Pompano Beach Elementary School. Teams played on the outfields of the many baseball fields. Elder said that future tournaments are sure to run much smoother now that the new complex will be open. Also, he said that teams from all over South Florida will be more likely to compete in our tournaments now, raising the level of competition and giving players a better chance at being looked at by scouts.
The complex itself resides on a 10-acre parcel of land, purchased from the Pompano Beach Elks club for $5.5 million. The complex will have four fields; two artificial turfed full-sized fields, and two natural turf fields for younger athletes. The two full-sized fields will have lights.
Near the parking lot will be a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse, which will house a concessions window, equipment storage, offices, and restrooms. The design of the clubhouse creates an “outdoor living room” for players and spectators to rest or escape the elements. It has also been designed with future expansion in mind; they won’t have to tear it down to create more multi-purpose spaces, according to Horacio Danovich, the capital improvements and innovation district director.
The project, which cost more than $12 million after all expenses are accounted for, had to be broken into two phases, according to city documents. The first phase consisted of demolition of the aforementioned Elks Club, removal and relocation of trees, site preparation and grading, sewage, drainage and other general preparations, including building the “shell” of the clubhouse.
he second phase included building the parking lot, lights, and finishing the interior and exterior of the clubhouse. Surprisingly, building a flat piece of grass is pretty costly. Just the turf for the fields cost north of half a million dollars. A significant portion of time is spent on the underground portion of the design; the drainage, water and sewage connections, electrical etc., Danovich said. Proper surveys, studies, calculations all have to be observed as it can get very costly and time-consuming to repair and replace if there is a problem.
An official ribbon cutting ceremony does not yet have a confirmed date at the time of publishing.
