McCoy Park could soon be the site of state-of-the-art, heated soccer fields and a two-story, 45,000 square-foot training facility for Columbus’ newest professional sports team.
The Haslam Sports Group shared its plans for a National Women’s Soccer League team training facility with The Dispatch ahead of its request to the Columbus Southwest Area Commission to endorse the group’s rezoning application. It’s the next step in a process that got off to a rough start in the neighborhood, which is one of the city’s most disadvantaged, and had previously been promised a renovated McCoy Park.
Use of the park was part of a hotly contested public-private deal that will invest $50 million in local public money in the latest sports venture by Dee and Jimmy Haslam, majority owners of the Columbus Crew and Cleveland Browns.
Also part of the deal, the Haslams and co-owners will donate $12 million to Franklin County early childhood education and food insecurity and $3 million for Southwest Side parks.
More than a month after the NWSL awarded Columbus the team, the private team owners have made some compromises and one area commissioner is cautiously optimistic this could turn into a “win-win-win.”
The Southwest Area Commission will vote at its meeting on June 9 on whether to recommend approval of the rezoning application. Area commission votes are the first step in the rezoning process and only advisory. The Development Commission will also take an advisory vote, likely in August, and then Columbus City Council will have the final say when it votes on the rezoning, likely in September. The investors are seeking to rezone about 24 acres as a Commercial Planned Development District.
Southwest Area Commissioner Leah Young, a member of the new working group tasked with replacing the park amenities that were intended for McCoy Park, said she will likely vote in favor of the rezoning application.
“I do believe this can be a win-win-win situation,” Young said. “It can be a win for the Haslam Group and women’s sports, a win for the community and a win for the city.”
Young said she was never opposed to a pro women’s soccer team coming here; she was opposed to it being at the expense of a vulnerable population. It took several meetings of the Southwest Area Park Working Group, but Young said she believes the Haslam Sports Group and team co-owner Nationwide Insurance are proving to be good community partners that want to invest in the southwest Columbus community.
“I know they’re supposed to be the billionaire enemies but I really see they have a heart for the community,” Young said. “The city was intent on bringing a women’s soccer team to the city of Columbus at the expense of whatever it takes. That really has set up Nationwide and the Haslam Group for a difficult position and a difficult launch for something that should’ve been positive.”
Crew President of Business Operations Mary Shepro, a representative of the Haslam Sports Group on the work group, said they’ve had good conversations with Young and Southwest Area Commissioner Liz Reed.
“I think we all feel like that together, the NWSL facility and what it’s going to spur in the area is good for us all,” Shepro said. “We’re optimistic that belief and message will be felt by the broader community … we’re long-term neighbors now. We’re part of the community.”
The private investors have compromised on the use of some land that the Columbus City Council initially approved the use of in the agreement. Following community advocacy, about 5 acres north of the park on Greenlawn Avenue will be left for community recreation, including a building that was donated in 2024 to create the Younkin Therapeutic Recreation Center, according to Shepro.
“We carved out that northern area that is not needed immediately so that we can continue discussions,” Shepro said. “We feel like we’re reaching a good point about what could be up there, in terms of parks amenities for not just the Southwest area but broader Columbus.”
The Haslam Sports Group had wanted to use that land for phase three of its facility expansion for more academy space but Shepro said they were happy to compromise after hearing from the community. Columbus Recreation & Parks will be gathering more feedback from Southwest Area residents on how that land should be used and other park plans in the neighborhood at a community meeting on June 16.
What are the plans for Columbus’ NWSL training facility
The Haslam Sports Group shared renderings of the planned facility publicly for the first time with The Dispatch.
“When we came into Columbus with the Crew in 2019, one of our objectives was delivering the team a world-class facility that set a new standard for the MLS,” said Phil Dangerfield, senior vice president of operations for the Haslam Sports Group. “We’re going to be doing that for NWSL. This is going to be a best-in-class facility that is equivalent or better than the men’s facility.”
Dangerfield said they learned a lot from building the Crew’s OhioHealth Performance Center and that knowledge will be applied to the new facility. The new facility will have a naming rights partner as well but Shepro said they’re not ready to announce it yet.
At the site, the professional players will practice on two and a half grass fields built on top of technology that heats the fields and drains away extra water. Three more soccer fields will serve the academy players and the community. A two-story building will include locker rooms, a cafeteria and other facilities.
Field lighting will be primarily around the academy fields for when the sun sets early in the fall and winter, but should turn off around 9 p.m. Dangerfield said the group is confident they can mitigate light pollution.
The plan also includes parking and a round-about that will keep traffic flowing when about 100 to 200 young academy players are getting dropped off, Dangerfield said.
The design team for the project includes three local firms, including Moody-Nolan, EMH&T and MKSK. Construction will be done by the Columbus firm Marker Construction, a woman-owned business.
What’s next for the planned Columbus NWSL facility
The project has an aggressive timeline to build a training facility in time for an NWSL team to begin playing in 2028 and for the city to host international teams for the 2028 Olympics.
The timeline outlined by the Haslam Sports Group is:
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus NWSL facility plans unveiled, face test of neighbor support
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
