Four indoor soccer fields: Concepts for a new recreation complex presented in Quincy
An architectural concept for a recreation facility in Quincy is seen here with the roof removed to display the interior layout.
Courtesy SCJ Alliance Consulting Services and ALSC Architects
Architects presented concepts for a major addition to the south of Lauzier Park in Quincy. The current park occupies the top two-fifths of the drawing. The proposal has indoor soccer fields in the Quincy Field House, seen in white above.
QUINCY — It’s going to be big, no matter what the city of Quincy eventually decides to build.
At a city council meeting on Tuesday, consulting engineer Dan Ireland, of Lacey-based SCJ Alliance, and architects Troy Bishop and Andrew Leeper of Spokane-based ALSC Architects presented a vision for a project designed to make Lauzier Park a draw: a nearly 140,000-square-foot Field House capable of holding four 7-versus-7 soccer fields — or one whole football field — as well as two basketball courts and ample space for virtually any kind of event.
“This is going to be a place that engages the youth. It’s very much about community,” Bishop told council members in a nearly hour-long presentation at a regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 21. “So, we want this to be a major hub for activity, a sense of pride for Quincy. We want to make sure that it’s available and affordable for everyone.”
The proposal envisions a two-phase project to complete the Field House. The first phase, which would build the administrative offices, the basketball courts and half of the proposed indoor soccer fields, is projected to cost $13.2 million, well over the $9 million Quincy has set aside for the facility.
In fact, the proposed Field House is the largest single project in the city’s $91.7 million 2022 budget, which the council passed at the Tuesday meeting.
“I’m surprised how much this has ballooned,” said council member Tom Harris. “I like what I see, but are we building something too big?”
And while the three architects were asked to go back and reconsider the scale of the proposal, there was no question the city of Quincy is giving significant thought to the Field House or some form of recreation center.
“This is very serious,” said City Administrator Pat Haley after the meeting. “The council has wanted to do this for a long time.”
Haley said the Field House proposal was actually the second given to the city for a major recreation center. The first proposed a huge facility with an indoor swimming pool in the city’s East Park, where the Aquatic Center is located. However, Haley said the city is now focused on expanding Lauzier Park, and it might even consider the $9 million set aside this year to be the first installment on a center.
In fact, Quincy has bought property south of Lauzier Park for expansion and has included roughly $1 for stormwater collection at the park as well.
So, the question is not if something like the Field House will be built at Lauzier Park, but what will it contain, and how big will it be.
“We are going to do something,” Haley said. “We’ve got to go back a little bit to the drawing board, so to speak.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.
