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Residents seek transparency, clarifications on Dayton Ridge soccer park development · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Residents seek transparency clarifications on Dayton Ridge Soccer Park development. Written
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  by Michael Urbanek. This article is being read by an automated voice,
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  brought to you by Everlet. A group of Dayton residents concerned over
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  the development of a soccer complex at the former Dayton Ridge Golf
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  Course sought transparency and clarifications on the development during Ottawa's City Council
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  meeting Tuesday. The 55-acre former golf course was undergoing a transformation
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  into an even flatter and to become a brand new soccer complex
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  for use by the Ottawa Soccer Club, the youth soccer organization that
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  fields between 500 and 800 youth players every year. President David Van
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  Wigeren said the club has overgrown its current fields at Peck Park
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  and at the empty lot east of Kroger on McKinley Road, and
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  the kids need a larger space that gives the grass some time
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  to rest. Currently the grass is overworn and struggling to regrow with
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  how much use it gets. This leads to a muddy pitch. Jacqueline
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  Hughes, who lives near the former golf course, asked the city to
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  step back and evaluate which projects it prioritizes, since it has so
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  much currently going on. What concerns us is the process and the
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  lack of a clear picture of that is being planned, Hughes said.
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  When the city discussed acquiring Dayton Ridge, the property was described as
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  additional park space, the future home of the Ottawa Soccer Club, open
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  to the public, and eventually a potential multi sports complex. Mayor Robert
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  Hasty said at the end of the meeting that there were once
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  discussions of using this location as a multi sport commercial complex, though
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  it became clear quickly that the golf course wasn't going to be
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  large enough. Instead, Hasty said residents should think of this as more
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  of an extra city park. The plan right now, given grant funding
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  comes through, is to have playgrounds and a walking trail to go
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  along with the soccer fields. He
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  said it's a misconception that has come up because soccer facilities are
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  often called complexes. Instead, this would be similar to Peck Park but
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  larger, with more space. When you start looking at the kind of
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  developments that the travelling sports complexes have, it's just not big enough,
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  Hasty said. The land is shaped a little bit weird for that.
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  He said it was an early possibility that didn't shape out. This
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  is an open space, just like any other park, any other league
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  that used ball fields, said Commissioner Marlot Pearson. Pearson also said that
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  there isn't a concern about games taking place there at night. There
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  will not be lights over the fields. That doesn't solve every problem
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  those with concerns have, though locals are concerned that traffic will be
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  a problem. As it stands, the road heading into the golf course
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  is low traffic and often used for children playing and senior citizens
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  going on walks. James Les, who said his parents live in the
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  are wants specifics. This is a significant number of vehicles, so before
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  this facility is operating, there are some basic questions that need to
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  be answered. Les said. How many parking spaces will actually be available
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  on the site? How many vehicles is The facility expected to accommodate?
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  He said according to construction plans, traffic is entering off a frontage
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  road. What happens when several fields are being used simultaneously? Les said.
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  Where will the overflow parking go? These are questions the City of
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  Ottawa plan on answering. Hasty said the city will schedule a town
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  hall to go over The plan and explain what the complex will
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  look like soon. The Ottawa City Council approved the purchase of the
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  golf course at 3076 E18th Road in December 2025 for the
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  price of 705,000. It's just west of the PetSmart Distribution Center
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  and north of Interstate 80, bumping against the Moose Lodge. It is
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  also surrounded by rural subdivisions with homes interspersed in between the former
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  golf course. The Council approved a bid with Stot contracting for 608,626.46
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  during its August meeting.