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OUR VISION:
A Healthy and Active Community
Recreational Opportunities for All Ages
High Quality of Life Through Investments in Our Community
A Place to Gather, All Year Long
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THE FIELD HOUSE

The Soldotna Field House is a 42,000 square foot athletic and community event facility with a multi-purpose sport court, removable turf field, and an ADA-accessible elevated walking and jogging track. It was designed over a 2-year period with input from multiple community stakeholders, and is the culmination of a decades-long effort to build an indoor recreational facility in the central Kenai Peninsula.

Keep reading to learn more about this project, and how our community can make it a reality.

LOCATION

The Field House will be located adjacent to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. This location is centrally located on the Kenai Peninsula, offering easy access to the nearly 37,000 residents (nearly 65% of the entire borough population) who live within a 45-minute drive of the facility

USER GROUPS

This Field House will provide opportunity for Central Peninsula community members to exercise and recreate indoors, 12 months a year. The play surface can accommodate a variety of sports configurations including: soccer and futsal, batting cages for baseball and softball, football, rugby, golf, and flag football. The turf field system will be removable, so that the Field House can also be used for sports such as wrestling, basketball, volleyball, pickle ball, baseball, and toddler time.

The Field House would also provide additional event space to accommodate large meetings and trade shows, and further enhance the capabilities of the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex to host large events that draw thousands of people into the community – including annual events such as the Sport Rec and Trade Show, the Home Show, and the Agricultural Expo.

KEY FEATURES

215’ by 115’ play area, with removable turf system to accommodate simultaneous turf and hard surface sports and events
3-lane walking/jogging track, 8 laps per mile
Elevator access to the upper (track) level and fully handicap accessible facility
Multipurpose room for party rental
Two locker rooms
Divider curtains to allow multiple, simultaneous events on the play area
Audio/Visual set-up for a wide variety of meeting and large event needs
Access to the existing kitchen facilities in the Sports Center for food service

HEALTH + WELLNESS

Health and wellness opportunities for Kenai Peninsula residents, espeically our growing senior population and children who are estimated to be the highest user groups of the new Field House and track.

The Field House will also give our local sports teams year-round access to a safe, indoor facility. This will allow our youth and competitive adult leagues to have the same opportunities as their peers around the state, to have access to indoor facilities for year-round practice, games, and skills building.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

The Field House would be large enough to host many sporting events, for example a statewide wrestling meet. These events draw hundreds of people into our community, who stay for several days, shop in our stores, and eat in our restaurants. The economic impact of bringing new visitors into our community is an additional benefit of the Field House.

Also, the facility would provide additional event space to accommodate large meetings and trade shows, and further enhance the capabilities of the Sports Center to host large events that draw thousands of people into the community.

TIMELINE MOVING FORWARD

Members of our community have been working toward building an indoor recreational facility for the central Kenai Peninsula, for decades. The timeline for this current effort to plan for and design the Soldotna Field House, is shown below.

After many years of planning and the efforts of volunteers throughout our community, this shovel-ready project just needs the approval of Soldotna voters on October 4, 2022, to make it a reality.

July 27, 2022
The Soldotna City Council passes Ordinance 2022-020 authorizing the City to issue General Obligation bonds, and put the question to voters at the October 4th municipal election
Aug to Oct 2022
Community engagement and outreach
October 4, 2022
City of Soldotna Regular Election

Public vote on General Obligation bond question

October 4, 2022 Election Results
Nov 2022 to June 2023
Work to secure additional funding through grants, federal funding, state funding, foundation funding, etc.
July 2023
Field House project goes to bid for construction
2025
Field House Construction Complete

HOW WILL THE PROJECT BE FUNDED

CONSTRUCTION FUNDING

The estimated cost of the facility is $19.4 million. At the Regular Municipal Election on October 4, 2022, Soldotna voters will decide whether they approve the issuance of up to $15M of general obligation bonds, to fund construction of the Field House.

The City continues to seek funding from additional sources, including:

State capital budget
Federal Congressionally Directed Spending
Federal Grants (e.g. EDA, USDA, IIJA)
Foundation Funding, such as Rasmuson Tier 2 grants
Private Donations

Any remaining costs not covered through this fundraising effort and the issuance of a bond, may be paid for using funds from the City’s General Fund.

HOW WILL THE BOND DEBT BE PAID FOR?

A general obligation bond works like debt, where the City of Soldotna would borrow funds, while promising the full faith and obligation of the City to repay the debt.

Interest rates are currently estimated between 3.5% to 4.5%. The annual payment on the bond will be dependent on the amount of the bond, and the length of the repayment period. For example, a $10M bond paid off over 20 years is estimated at a $700K annual payment, and a $15M bond paid off over 10 years is estimated at an annual payment of $1.8M.

The City of Soldotna has the financial resources to take on this debt without any new taxes at this time.

Sales Tax revenue has increased from $7,058,405 in 2017, to $8,590,929 in 2021. That’s an increase of $1,532,524 in five years (17.8%)
2022 sales tax revenue is projected to be $9,557,927 – up another 11.3% from the prior year
Online sales tax (collected from internet purchases) continues to grow as a source of revenue, as more internet companies register and begin remitting tax to the City.
As of June 30, 2021, the City had a healthy fund balance (savings) of $24,892,351, of which $12,762,938 is unassigned and available for spending at the Council’s discretion.
The City’s investments are managed by a professional investment firm, and have earned a rate of return of approximately 5% ($3.6 million) since 2015.

OPERATING EXPENDITURES + REVENUE

The Field House will bring in revenue from user groups, as well as generate expenditures to operate the facility.

A feasibility analysis conducted by the University of Alaska’s Center for Economic Development in 2018, modeled specific user groups and rates. The analysis plugged in anticipated demand, to generate revenue and expense scenarios three different ways: conservative, moderate, and optimistic. In the most likely scenario, annual revenues were estimated at $246,000 while annual operating expenses were expected to be $291,000.

Revenues generated from league sports, field rentals, events, and other programs will largely off-set the operating expenses for the Field House, with minimal impact on the City’s overall operating budget.

The Soldotna Field House was designed to provide a safe space for healthy activities and recreation, for all members of our community. Though many activities at the Field House will be paid for by user fees (similar to fees charged by local pools and other recreational facilities), the City is committed to keeping this facility affordable so that all residents are able to access its benefits.