CREST HAVEN — Cape May County is looking at creating its own sports complex in an area known as County Park East.
Representatives from Mellio Bauer Carman (MBC) Landscape Architects on Aug. 26 presented the county commissioners with plans for a $28 million facility that will include a two-story field house and other, outside amenities.
County Park East, across Route 9 from the Cape May County Park & Zoo, is mostly wooded and already contains tennis courts and a baseball field; new tennis/pickleball courts would be added under the plans. The diamond recently served as the home field for Wildwood Catholic Academy baseball.
The site also contains a law enforcement memorial at Route 9 and Crest Haven Road; the memorial would be upgraded.
County Administrator Kevin Lare said the county would sell bonds to raise the funds needed.
MBC Landscape Architects principal Tom Carman introduced the project and handed off to Jason Tronco, who said the field house would be big enough to host a high school soccer match or football game. There would, however, be limited seating for such events, which could be viewed from a mezzanine or second-floor walking track. The field house could also be used for basketball, baseball practice or pickleball.
Tronco said his firm looked at a facility with an air-supported roof, what some call a bubble, and recommended the county go with a solid, metal-framed roof. He said he could not say how long an air-supported roof would hold up under challenging weather conditions or extreme weather events.
Commission Director Leonard Desiderio said the idea for the complex came from an ad hoc committee formed to look at improving recreation opportunities in the county. He said local teams and residents would have more opportunities to participate in passive recreation or in active sports, such as tennis or pickleball.
“The Middle Township facilities are backed up,” Desiderio said.
Commissioner Bobby Barr, who said he has been an active supporter of recreational opportunities for many years, said schools often don’t have enough facilities for the number of teams that need space. He mentioned there can be issues with scheduling boys and girls basketball, for example, or basketball and wrestling.
Desiderio said, “This has been asked for, for years.”
Commissioner Will Morey asked how the scale of the facility was chosen. Tronco said the field house was meant to accommodate a full-sized high school soccer pitch or football field. The playing area could also be split up into four youth fields.
Morey also asked how the facility would fit in with current plans for the Aviation Sports Complex, proposed for the Cape May Airport grounds. The commissioners were briefed on that proposal in July and approved a 20-year lease for a 100,000-square-foot multisport facility that would be built and operated by a private developer. The airport facility would not, the commissioners said, be available for free to county residents or visitors.
County Counsel Jeff Lindsay said he believed the airport sports complex would be more “tournament-driven.” The developers have repeatedly highlighted the concept of staging soccer tournaments, for example, which they expect would bring more business to the county in terms of lodging and dining, among other things.
Morey also asked if the project could receive Open Space Program funds, given the program’s history of funding recreation facilities. He said he didn’t want to see the taxpayers “double-dipped,” meaning their taxes support the Open Space Program already, and they would have to pay for the new facility as well.
“I’m not suggesting I won’t support this; for me, it’s just a matter of what drives this,” he said.
Lare said the county has historically awarded Open Space money to municipalities, rather than use the money itself, and has adopted the position that it would not use the funds for county projects.
The administrator said he was looking for a straw vote to gauge the board’s level of interest in pursuing the project. He said it would be about 12 months before ground could be broken, giving the commissioners a year to talk about it.
In addition, he said, there would be no need to spend more money if the board did not intend to pursue the project.
Four of the five commissioners gave the project an enthusiastic yes. Desiderio asked Morey if he wished to abstain.
“I would give it a conditional yes,” Morey replied.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
