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49 °F 5 Day Forecast Saturday, November 29, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend November 21, 2003 A 132-acre sports park proposal near Bear Creek Corp. in south Medford features plenty of space for baseball and softball, but members of a local soccer club say little is left for their popular sport. Park plan sparks turf battle Local soccer club officials believe the plans favor baseball and should have more fields devoted strictly to soccer By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune A proposal for a 132-acre sports park in south Medford has one group fighting for turf. The latest plan was unveiled Wednesday night and includes three baseball, four softball and two youth ball fields, as well as three field areas for use by various sports such as soccer. The public meeting was the city’s second on the new 132-acre sports park complex to be built between Highway 99 and Interstate 5 on the former Heitkamp farm near Bear Creek Corp. Enthusiasts have pushed for space for everything from soccer and softball fields to lawn bowling and a dog park. They have been making their pitches to the city for months. Advertisement One group in particular is not pleased with the design put together by Walker Macy landscape architects from Portland. "To me it looks like it’s heavy on baseball," said Paul Munyon, a Rogue Valley Soccer Club coach. Munyon said Medford has a shortage of soccer fields for the city’s 220 teams. Club president Mike Dunn said from what he’s seen in the preliminary plan, the city can’t count on any participation from his group in helping to build playing fields. "I would be very hard pressed to get the (soccer club) board to vote any money for this," Dunn said Thursday. "In fact, I could safely say the board would vote unanimously against" helping develop fields at the site. "It still sounds like an awesome situation for the public as a whole as a park, but not as a soccer venue," Dunn said. "It would be fourth or fifth on our list of fields for our use if it goes through with the specs I’ve heard about today." Munyon said ideally what his club would like is at least four full-size fields designated solely for soccer. Merlin McDaniel, who is overseeing the design and eventual construction of the project for the city parks department, said the multi-use space can be made into five adult soccer fields, 10 youth soccer fields or three champion soccer fields. He said those fields are also available for groups playing ultimate Frisbee, rugby and football. And therein lies the rub. With soccer a year-round sport, and fields in need of "off-line" time to recover from use, it’s not feasible to share the fields with everything from flag football to lacrosse, as the city is proposing, said Munyon. "When are we going to find time to share it?" he said. Baseball supporters are pleased with the plan, however. "I think it’s wonderful," said Gary Miller, president of the board for Miles Field/Medford Youth Baseball Society. Aside from concerns over the plan’s design, there’s one major hurdle remaining. "We’re still looking for the various sports clubs to adopt a field and come up with the (funding)," said McDaniel. "We don’t have the money within the city budget to build all the fields." Miller said his organization is waiting for the county to sign over $2.3 million from the sale of the nearby Miles Field property to Wal-Mart, which the county has agreed to do. Then the Medford Youth Baseball Society can start construction on the stadium baseball field to replace Miles Field, for which all that money is earmarked. McDaniel said there’s a house on the property, which the plan designates as a nature center in response to a request by the nonprofit Jefferson Nature Center. While Jefferson is the only group to propose a nature center in the park, its name won’t go on the plan just yet. "We don’t have an agreement signed with the Jefferson Nature Center," he said, but "they’ve got their foot in the door." He said two requests not in the plan are for a dog park and a swimming pool, and groups supporting those elements are discussing other possible sites. A dog park has been suggested for county land south of the sports park property. Parks and Recreation Director Scott Archer said the protected riparian corridor around Bear Creek is a large portion of the property, leaving about 80 of the 132 acres for development. He said the proposal makes use of that 80 acres creatively. "I think we’ve got ourselves a pretty good plan here," he said. "From here," said McDaniel, "the consultants will put together a completed plan. It’ll first go to the Parks Commission then sent to the City Council for their approval." The plan will be presented at the next Planning Commission meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 16 in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 411 W. Eighth St., Medford. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times