SEQUIM — The soccer fields in Craig Stevenson’s mind have evolved into a terraced commons, grounds for festivals and a game space for children and adults.
Stevenson leads Sequim Family Advocates, the group of soccer moms and dads that, back in October, asked for the Sequim City Council’s blessing of 8 acres of ball fields north of Carrie Blake Park.
He brought a flock of soccer players to a council meeting, and got some positive, if vague, words of encouragement from members Bill Huizinga and Susan Lorenzen.
Now the group of volunteer coaches and other parents has broadened its proposal.
They hope to put portable soccer equipment on the fields so that they could be quickly turned into space for community events.
Stevenson and Dave Shreffler, another member of Sequim Family Advocates, plan to take their map and vision to the City Council’s next meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 26 in the Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
Sequim Family Advocates isn’t asking the city for a cent, Shreffler said on Wednesday.
Seeking approval, not money
What the coalition wants is approval from the council so it can begin fundraising and grant-writing efforts.
“We’re fully aware that everyone’s strapped,” said Shreffler, an environmental consultant, youth soccer coach and soccer player.
“All we’re looking for is a memorandum of understanding,” with the city’s endorsement.
The Sequim Citizens Park Advisory Board gave the ball fields plan its unanimous approval Tuesday night.
And Jeff Edwards, the city Planning Department’s parks coordinator, already has a map showing where the fields would be located: at the Water Reuse Demonstration Site just north of Carrie Blake Park.
The public site is where public-works crews recycle wastewater, so that water would be reused to keep the grass green, Edwards said.
The reuse site already has the James Center bandshell, restrooms and the beginnings of a Clallam County Master Gardeners’ demonstration garden.
“We started with the idea that this was all about soccer fields,” Shreffler said.
“But that’s evolved into something that would have multiple uses. It’s not like we’re creating permanent soccer fields with permanent goals.”
Multiple uses
Since the gear will be movable, other games such as softball and flag football could be played on these fields, Stevenson said.
An adult soccer and softball league could start up in Sequim.
And as Sequim Mayor Laura Dubois has mentioned, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day is coming next year. An Earth Day festival could engulf the water reuse site, Stevenson mused.
“It’ll be a flat, grassy place to do things,” he said.
Once the terracing levels the space, other amenities could be added.
It would be great to have a concession stand “to sell hot chocolate to soccer parents on a cold Saturday morning,” Stevenson said.
If planning and fundraising for the ball fields goes well, they could be finished in 2010, according to the city Planning Department’s project list.
The department also has $300,000 worth of tennis courts on that list, with 2012 as the estimated date of construction.
Shreffler sees this package of play facilities as a “tremendous asset to the community. It could really be an amazing park,” he said.
The City Council is poised to adopt a new impact fee to help pay for Sequim’s play spaces.
The fee, which would be imposed on builders of houses, condominiums and apartments, will be the subject of a public hearing during the Jan. 26 council meeting.
Yet another item on that agenda is the proposed Spruce Street route that would link the Olympic Discovery Trail from Carrie Blake Park to Sequim Avenue.
Stevenson, for his part, envisions children and teenagers riding their bicycles along the Discovery Trail after school to soccer, softball or flag-football practice.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
