Field Revamp Tied to World Cup Selection

Oxnard taxpayers will spend up to $60,000 to renovate three soccer fields at Oxnard College if the World Cup Organizing Committee chooses the site as a training center, the City Council decided Tuesday.

While the money is guaranteed if Oxnard is selected as a training facility for the 1994 world soccer championship, some of the cash could be repaid if a committee being formed is successful at raising money, college President Elise Schneider told the council.

Four training facilities will be selected, and five venues are competing, she said.

Tuesday’s approval was crucial because the sites will be chosen in as little as two weeks, Schneider said. She said she needs to guarantee to World Cup officials this week that the improvements will be completed if Oxnard is chosen.

“We have no cash to put forward,” she said. The college’s contribution “is in-kind, with assistance and with staff,” she said.

The money would be spent on improving the sprinklers, soils and mulching at the three fields.

More than 175 countries are expected to participate in the World Cup, a soccer championship held every four years that will culminate with the finals being played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in July, 1994.

“Already, people are booking hotel rooms in Oxnard to attend this event,” said Steven L. Kinney, the city’s director of economic development.

Council members approved the expenditure unanimously, noting the world-class soccer fields would be used by the community once the games have come and gone.

“That has been something that has been lacking in this county for a number of years,” Councilman Thomas Holden said.