The Soldotna City Council announces that there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Soldotna Field House Project on Friday, October 20th at 4:00pm at the future site of the Soldotna Field House, adjacent to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex at 538 Arena Ave.
According to Soldotna Mayor Paul Whitney, everyone is extremely excited to see this day come into fruition, especially considering it’s been such a long time in the making.
“It’s been a project that’s been looked at probably now for going out about seven years. Think about 2016 that the city got involved in it. There had been earlier planning and discussion about the need for this type of facility, not only for the city of Soldotna, but for our entire community are,” said Whitney.
The plan is to have the Soldotna Fieldhouse be a 40,500 square foot multi-purpose facility that will include an upper-level walking and running track, a soccer field, a wrestling area, as well as tennis and basketball courts. The goal of this project is to ensure that people of all ages have a place to practice good, physical health, while also making sure that sports teams have a safe place to practice when things get a little chilly.
“It’s a place where our young adults and sports teams will be able to practice during the bad weather times be an opportunity for some of the events that can’t be held down here because there isn’t a room available that would allow that to happen now and bring more people into the area for sporting events and different things,” said Whitney.
The facility will be large enough to host statewide tournaments and sporting events, as well as large meetings, tradeshows, and other events that support local organizations and draw thousands of people into our community. The Field House was designed with input from many stakeholders, and is the culmination of a decades-long effort to build a year-round, indoor recreation and community facility on the central Kenai Peninsula.
“So it’s just a all around great facility that will get a lot of use,” said Whitney.
Last October, Soldotna voters approved the issuance of up to $15 million in General Obligation bonds to fund construction of the Field House. This September, the City of Soldotna awarded a contract to Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. to construct the Field House at a cost of $14.1 million. Whitney hopes to see the fieldhouse finished by the summer of 2025.
Please join the City of Soldotna, local elected officials, and community leaders, on Friday, October 20th at 4pm as we kick off the long-awaited construction of the Soldotna Field House. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own shovel to join in a photo opportunity.
