Photos by Kamp Fender
Newly constructed facilities at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex include five multipurpose long fields, 16 regulation tennis courts and two structures to include offices and concessions. The final installment of the complex’s construction is expected to open in phases in late January and early February.
After first being approved by the Hoover City Council three years ago, the final portion of the $80 million Hoover Metropolitan Complex is nearing completion and expected to open in phases in late January and early February, city officials say.
“The construction is moving along very well, right on schedule,” said Tim Westhoven, the chief operations officer for the city.
The final phase of the sports complex includes five multi-purpose fields that are the size of an NCAA soccer field but suitable for lacrosse, football, rugby or other uses; 16 tennis courts and a pro shop; a 15,000-square-foot playground; and a 7,000-square-foot splash pad.
The first phase included the 155,000-square-foot indoor sports and event center called the Finley Center and a relocation and expansion of the Hoover RV Park. Those facilities opened in May 2017.
The second phase involved five NCAA-regulation size baseball (or softball) fields, which opened in August 2018.
Now, the soccer/lacrosse/football fields and tennis complex should be ready to open by Jan. 22, and the playground and splash pad should follow a couple of weeks later, said John Sparks, general manager of the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.
Brasfield & Gorrie, which has overseen construction of the complex, has been a great partner and is working diligently to get the project done, Sparks said.
“They’re out there in 20-degree weather pushing through with full crews,” he said. “They think they’re going to be able to get us where we need to be. If we don’t get a week’s worth of rain, we’ll probably be OK.”
BOOKINGS GOING STRONG
Right now, there is a “standing-room-only wait in line” for requests to use the new multi-purpose fields, Sparks said.
The Hoover Soccer Club and Hoover Lacrosse Club are looking to get on the fields as soon as the city can open them, he said. Sparks expects those groups to have practices on at least four of the five fields for three to four nights a week.
Casey Crook, president of the Hoover Soccer Club, said his club is really excited about the new fields, which he said are direly needed. “There are just not enough soccer fields out there,” he said.
Right now, the Hoover Soccer Club has access to seven full-size fields at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, the Riverchase soccer complex and Rocky Ridge, Crook said. And the club has grown by 20 percent in the past two years, he said. “We’re bursting at the seams as far as where we can play and when we can play.”
Crook is very pleased with how the city of Hoover and Sports Facilities Management, which manages the Hoover Metropolitan Complex, have worked in partnership with the soccer club.
And while the Hoover soccer and lacrosse clubs likely will dominate usage during the week, numerous tournaments already have been booked for weekends as well, Sparks said.
The Red Diamond Classic (for boys soccer) has booked the last weekend in January, two weekends in February and two weekends in March, and a Soccer Skills tournament is scheduled in mid-February. The Hoover Soccer Club will have its Hoover Havoc tournament on the new fields at the end of March.
Sparks said SFM has a great relationship with the Hoover soccer and lacrosse clubs, and he thinks they can balance the need to give them time on the fields with the need to bring in other tournaments to generate additional revenue.
Having the new synthetic turf fields also will help those clubs be able to hold some games that otherwise might be postponed or canceled due to rain issues on other natural turf fields, Sparks said. The outfields of the new baseball and softball fields also can be utilized for overflow soccer games, he said.
The new baseball and softball fields also have gotten strong usage since opening in August, Sparks said.
The Hoover Parks and Recreation Department’s flag football program used the fields during the week this fall, and most weekends were booked as well, he said. There have been some baseball and softball skills competitions and camps, and a couple of baseball teams held tryouts for winter and spring ball, he said.
Now that winter has arrived, the fields will undergo some maintenance during down time before activity picks back up in February, he said.
HIRING MODE
With the opening of the multi-purpose fields, tennis complex, playground and splash pad, the Hoover Metropolitan Complex has been and will continue to be in a hiring mode, Sparks said.
There were about 55 part-time employees as of late November, and Sparks said he would love to have 100 part-timers on board by this summer.
The jobs cover a variety of areas, from guest services to sports event support, food and beverage work, operations and event planning.
A new access road serving the athletic complex, stretching about half a mile from Flemming Parkway (near Bumpus Middle School) to Buccaneer Drive (near Hoover High and the school system’s bus maintenance facility), also was expected to be complete by the end of 2018, Westhoven said.
For more information about the Hoover Metropolitan Complex, go to hoovermetcomplex.com.
This story is part of our Year in Preview. See more here.
