2nd Plan for Soccer Center Is Unveiled
A second proposal to build a soccer stadium in the San Fernando Valley with no public subsidy was unveiled Wednesday, creating competition between professional and amateur groups for the site in the renovated Hansen Dam Recreation Area.
Steve Sampson, the former coach of the U.S. national soccer team who now represents Pueblo Corp., a financial services firm, laid out a tentative proposal before the city of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission on Wednesday for a $10-million training center and 10,000-seat stadium.
Sampson’s presentation came one month after the Galaxy professional soccer team told the commission it was considering the site for a $60-million development that would include a stadium as well as a training center for the national men’s and women’s teams.
Parks officials are now in an uncommon, and enviable, position, according to commission President Steven Soboroff: Multiple suitors are jockeying to build a first-class facility in a city lacking enough soccer fields.
Most important, said Soboroff, both the Galaxy and Pueblo say they are willing to develop such a site without using public money.
“This is a chance for the private sector to go to work on something that will end up benefiting the public sector,” said Soboroff. “It’s a win-win situation if we can make this work.”
Sampson told the commission that Pueblo, a Century City-based financial firm that caters to Latinos, hopes to create a training facility called El Pueblo del Futbol.
The center would include the stadium and six to 12 soccer fields surrounding it.
“At no cost to the city, we will provide a center with open access to the public,” said Sampson. The stadium would not host Galaxy games.
Instead, semi-professional, college, high school, adult and youth games would be played there. Revenue from such matches would help offset costs, said Sampson.
Sampson said Pueblo considered the development a public relations venture that would recoup costs in public trust and name recognition.
The former coach projected that the facility could have from 4,000 to 5,000 regular players. About a third of them would be in a youth training academy that would include an afternoon academic program.
Soccer fan Mike Evans, coach of the Chaminade High School girls soccer team in the Valley, said the proposals had his juices flowing.
“We really need something like this. There’s so much love for soccer now, especially for the kids after the women’s World Cup, but we don’t have nearly enough fields. We’ve all been waiting for something like this to happen in Los Angeles.”
Sampson spoke during a period of public comment and did not offer an official bid. The commission decided to hold a series of public discussions with residents of the Lake View Terrace area during the next month, according to parks Commissioner LeRoy Chase.
Pueblo, which sells discount cards offering long-distance service, insurance plans and other services, is one of California’s top-grossing Latino companies. The firm brought in $331 million in revenue in 1998. It has $1.9 billion in assets, according to Victor Villalba, a company spokesman.
The Parks Commission will decide at next month’s meeting whether to open the bidding for a soccer facility to additional developers. “We’ve got a site that is obviously getting a lot of interest from people who want to make it a soccer destination for Southern California and the nation, so it would seem to make sense to have a process where we hear other bids,” said Soboroff.
The Galaxy is considering several potential sites within Los Angeles County for an intimate, soccer-only stadium for professional play and an adjoining series of fields for the national teams and recreational use, according to Sergio Del Prado, general manager of the team.
Major League Soccer considers such stadiums highly desirable as the league struggles to gain a foothold with the American public. The Major League team in Columbus, Ohio, recently built the first professional soccer-only stadium in the U.S., a stadium that is now considered the prototype for drawing in new soccer fans.
Del Prado said the team is still considering the Hansen Dam site and that the Galaxy would not be averse to working with Pueblo on the development.
“We’re well aware of Pueblo’s interest,” said Del Prado. “They have some interesting plans. If we can talk them into making the stadium large enough for professional soccer and have that be a top priority, then maybe we can work together.”
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The Hansen Dam site is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers, which leases the area to the city. After World War II, it was the premier family recreation destination in the Valley, but then fell on hard times and became a gathering place for gangs and scarred by crime. Rodney G. King was beaten by police on a street bordering the grounds.
At July’s commission meeting, parks officials unveiled plans to spend $25 million to further transform the land into a major sports facility.
The plan, which garnered early support from the commission and relied on taxpayer money, called for use of 100 acres in Lake View Terrace to build baseball and soccer fields, a roller hockey rink, skateboard park, model airplane airport and RV campground. State money and about $10 million in Proposition K bond funds would pay for the site, which would sit adjacent to the renovated lake and a water slide development set to open this month.
Soboroff said he is extremely interested in proposals that would build open-access facilities without spending public money.
He said the soccer fields could be built using private money and the city might still find a way to build many of the other proposed recreation sites.
Jones, a parks commissioner who represents the Pacoima area, sounded a note of caution.
“I’m very curious, but cautious too,” he said. “When someone puts up $10 million, they expect something in return. We want to make sure we know what to expect and what they expect from us. It’ll be interesting to look into.”
