Ginther's Plan B sports park moving forward after state snub at former Columbus Crew home

Bill Bush, Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·4 min read
Although new soccer fields were built as part of a Columbus Crew training facility, plans for a community facility at the former home of the Columbus Crew have stalled out of pushback from owner of the Ohio State Fairgrounds.
Although new soccer fields were built as part of a Columbus Crew training facility, plans for a community facility at the former home of the Columbus Crew have stalled out of pushback from owner of the Ohio State Fairgrounds.

More than 58 months after having promised Columbus residents a major new sports park adjacent to Historic Crew Stadium in return for the city's support for constructing Lower.com Field, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther on Thursday ceremonially broke ground on Plan B. — a major renovation of an existing city sports park near Westerville.

The improved facility at Kilbourne Run, currently a 69-acre city-owned field scattered with makeshift soccer nets for youth games at 4625 Westerville Road, will be transformed into 12 lighted soccer fields, including a central artificial-turf tournament facility with a grandstand, locker rooms, a scoreboard and media facilities.

"Needless to say, defeat was not an option," Ginther said, referencing that the Ohio Expositions Commission — which controls the state fairgrounds where the old stadium formerly called Mapfre sits— has refused to cede to the city needed land for its sports park.

"And our community had waited long enough. So we went back to the drawing board."

"We haven't given up on the fairgrounds, and continue to lobby the governor and Exposition Center," Ginther added, saying the city stands "ready willing and able to build the sports park there that we promised."

More: No mention of Columbus sports park in new Ohio state fairgrounds master plan

Construction on the $29.8 million Kilbourne Run project will start in the spring of 2024, with an April 2025 completion date, according to the city Recreation and Parks Department. It will also include amenities such as indoor restrooms, bike trails, playgrounds to occupy small children while older siblings compete, picnic shelters, improved parking and access roads, and a maintenance building, said Parks Director Bernita Reese.

The original vision for the recreation park on the site of Mapfre Stadium
The original vision for the recreation park on the site of Mapfre Stadium

While Ginther acknowledged that Kilbourne Run isn't a new recreational facility — the city had for decades operated playing fields there — it will be transformed from essentially an unimproved field into a "new and dynamic destination."

Joe Motil, Ginther's sole opponent for mayor on the November ballot, said the city's Mapfre sports park plan "was just another empty promise by Mayor Ginther," who found out he didn't have the political clout to build something on state property.

While Ginther has said that Gov. Mike DeWine gave him his word that the project would happen, the land is directly controlled by the Expo Commission Board, which never supported giving the city historic state fairgrounds land that it said was needed for event parking.

The Mapfre sports park was to be the "clear community benefit" to the Downtown stadium project, Council President Shannon Hardin said when it was announced. It was to serve Linden, North Columbus, the University District and Weinland Park. "Really, this is about access and opportunity for young people," Hardin said.

But Virgil Strickler, the Expo Commission's general manager, said he learned about Ginther's plan through the news media after Ginther announced at Mapfre that the state land would become a city recreational facility. Strickler had never been briefed on this, and quickly became a critic. While the governor appoints nine of the 14 members of the Expo Board, they are legally in control of the Fairgrounds during their terms.

DeWine wouldn't say in December whether the city's proposal is officially dead.

"I'm someone who always tries to get things worked out," the governor said as the state unveiled plans for the future of the Expo Center that didn't include any city facilities. "... And we're trying to figure out a way basically to accommodate everyone."

Asked if he had communicated with DeWine recently about the project, Ginther said: "I asked the governor to honor his commitments. ... We are going to continue to push and lobby," and if the state ultimately agrees the city's money to develop the state land would "absolutely" be there.

Ginther also repeated in his prepared remarks that "not a single city dollar went toward the construction of the new (Lower.com) stadium for the Crew." However, The Dispatch reported in 2020 that city and county officials had not requested or received any details about how the team — acting as developer — spent around $150 million in public funds to build the stadium, and there is no way to verify that statement.

wbush@gannett.com

@ReporterBush

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ginther touts improved North Side playing fields as Mapfre substitute