Just hours before the Columbus City Council is set to vote on a $25-million-deal with private investors bidding for a professional women’s soccer team, two council members introduced an amendment committing to the replacement of McCoy Park.
If investors, including Crew majority owners Haslam Sports Group and Nationwide, win their bid for an NWSL expansion franchise, the deal would still use McCoy Park in the city’s Southwest Side neighborhood for a private training facility. The use of the park, which is located in one of the city’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods, has drawn backlash from some council members and neighbors who were promised extensive renovations to the community park beginning this year. Following criticism of the deal reached in private, Mayor Andrew Ginther announced the city would build the neighborhood a new park.
The new amendment pushed by Council President Shannon Hardin and Councilmember Nick Bankston would hold the city to Ginther’s commitment by requiring the city to establish a neighborhood working group to find a location for a new park in the neighborhood in 60 days. The group must come up with plans that would follow the rough timeline promised for McCoy Park: break ground on a new park this year and complete it by the end of 2027. The city council could hold up its funding for the NWSL deal if Ginther’s administration and the working group don’t deliver.
The amendment would also require the private investors seeking an NWSL team to donate $3 million for the new park, on top of city capital dollars. And, the ownership group would commit to providing some community access at McCoy Park, including use of some soccer fields.
Hardin said at last week’s council meeting that at this point, the potential facility has to be located in McCoy Park or Columbus won’t get a soccer team. But, he said he would not feel comfortable voting for the deal unless council amended it to keep the city’s previous promises to the young people of the Southwest Side.
The city previously spent $900,000 on a consultant to create plans for McCoy Park and city officials say those plans can be repurposed in a new park. The plans for McCoy Park included a pond, playgrounds, splash pad and adaptive sports fields for use by disabled residents.
Columbus City Council will vote tonight at its meeting on a Development Agreement with the investors and Franklin County that calls for $25 million each from the city and Franklin County. This money would go toward construction of the women’s training facility and upgrades to ScottsMiracle-Gro Field to host a second team.
For the city’s contribution, it would issue $25 million in bonds and pay the debt back using a permanent 2% ticket fee on all events at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. Hardin and Bankston negotiated the ticket fee deal after a majority of council members, including Hardin, rejected Ginther and the Haslams’ pitch to use city capital dollars for the project.
If council votes to advance the deal, the Franklin County Commissioners will put a resolution on their meeting agenda for April 21, according to county spokesperson Molly Thrasher.
The deal has always included a commitment from the ownership group to put $12 million back into the community over a 12-year period focused on early childhood education, workforce development and food insecurity. And according to city officials, the prospective ownership group would contribute more than $300 million to setting up an NWSL franchise.
Ginther and the Haslam Sports Group have repeatedly said that a public-private partnership is crucial to showing the NWSL that the community supports a team and winning the next franchise team, which would begin play in 2028. According to the Haslam Sports Group, this could be the last expansion franchise awarded for a while and they’re expecting an announcement soon.
Liz Reed, chair of the Southwest Area Commission, said the NWSL is accepting applications on a rolling basis and there is nothing stopping the Columbus investors from submitting a new bid with a different piece of land.
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: Ahead of NWSL vote, Columbus council proposes fix to McCoy Park dilemma
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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