Soccer is one of the most rapidly growing sports in the United States, and the city of Covington is hoping to give enthusiasts of the game a new outlet to play.
The city of Covington is projected to enter an agreement with the FC Cincinnati Foundation to build a soccer pitch at Austinburg Park.
“I’m super excited about this,” Commissioner Shannon Smith said.
Neighborhood Services Department Director Brandon Holmes presented the Austinburg Park redevelopment to the Covington Board of Commissioners at last Tuesday’s caucus meeting. The item was placed on the meeting consent agenda for Sept. 13, and is expected to be approved.
“The one thing we’ve been working on for several months now, which is really the highlight of the park, is the FC Cincinnati mini-pitch,” Holmes said.
According to Holmes, FC Cincinnati has built dozens of mini-pitches throughout Cincinnati, but the Covington location would be their first in Northern Kentucky and the largest they have built so far.
“The FC Cincinnati Foundation, through their generous donation, and through a partnership with our commission and our city, has decided they want to make a long-term investment in the city of Covington through the largest mini-pitch soccer field they’ve done so far,” Holmes said.
The mini-pitch will be a 98 by 44-foot synthetic turf field and will feature an FC Cincinnati crest in the center. Holmes said FC Cincinnati would be paying for the construction costs of the pitch with the exception of the site work, its installation and long-term renewal. The field has a projected useful life of five to 12 years.
“It’s a really great deal for the city in the long haul,” Holmes said. “It’s really going to activate this park in a way we haven’t seen it activated in recent years.”
If approved, Motz Group, a regional synthetic turf installation company, is ready to mobilize on-site around “Sept. 19 or 20.”
“We’re buttoned up and ready to go,” Holmes said.
The Austinburg Park borders the Licking River floodwall in east Covington, and features amenities such as a baseball field, picnic shelter, playground, and basketball court.
In September and October 2021, the city of Covington surveyed approximately 300 residents online, and hosted three community meetings, where residents were asked questions about what amenities they wanted to see at Austinburg Park.
Amenities such as ziplines, splash pads, a multi-use sports court and dog park weren’t feasible, officials determined.
“They didn’t fit well into the nature of the neighborhood,” Holmes said.
Other amenities made more sense for the park in terms of design and usage, such as a playground, nature playgrounds and basketball courts.
The new design shown to the commission features a newly paved parking lot for Covington residents traveling to visit the park outside of Austinburg.
Currently, the park features two basketball courts, but the new design concept calls for the reduction of one basketball court, and the addition of a pickleball court.
Holmes said the rest of the park renovations will go out for bid in the fall, with plans for installation projected to begin in the spring or summer 2023.
