By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 31, 1999; Page B01
The $19.8 million SoccerPlex will begin taking shape this summer on a portion of 658 acres of South Germantown parkland. By October next year, all but five of the 26 planned indoor and outdoor fields will be ready for weekend soccer matches and regional tournaments. More than half the project will be financed by a nonprofit soccer foundation now raising money from local soccer clubs and corporate sponsors, which will be allowed to name fields or advertise inside the planned 3,200-seat stadium.
At the same time, county officials plan to build park trails, an adventure playground and a recently proposed indoor swimming pool, among other public amenities council members say will broaden the park's appeal beyond soccer enthusiasts. Those additional attractions, together adding more than $25 million to the price tag, will include an archery range, a driving range, a miniature golf course, tennis courts and a bicycle motocross (or BMX) track when the entire park project is complete in 2004.
The huge project, known as the South Germantown Recreational Park, has alarmed residents of the once-rural area now being squeezed by rapid home construction and the accompanying public services much in demand in northern Montgomery and throughout the Maryland suburbs. Some of those new residents are among the 22,000 Montgomery children who participate in soccer leagues and take part each weekend in the carefully choreographed use of the county's overburdened public fields.
Neighbors fear a huge spike in weekend traffic on local roads. They also worry that runoff from the site could taint nearby streams and well water. As part of the deal, council members agreed to monitor water quality for five years after construction begins. The plan, endorsed by a unanimous council, also calls for road work to be finished before the complex opens.
"I'm obviously going to watch this process very carefully, but overall I am very pleased," said council member Nancy Dacek (R-Upcounty), whose district includes the SoccerPlex site. "We are going to have a world-class facility, not just for soccer [players] but for residents of Germantown."
Since the early 1990s, parents and public officials have talked about building a soccer complex at the South Germantown site to meet soaring interest in the signature suburban sport. But the idea did not gain momentum until October 1997, when Discovery Communications Inc. Chairman John S. Hendricks and his wife, Maureen, pledged their financial support. The Potomac couple have two children who play youth soccer, often on fields they consider substandard. County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) soon called the proposal a model for financing much-needed recreation services.
"This gets us 24 great [out door] soccer fields in a very short time because of the partnership with the private sector," Duncan said. "It makes all the difference in the world."
As part of the agreement yesterday, the Hendrickses will contribute $1 million to the Maryland Soccer Foundation; Discovery Communications will pitch in an additional $1 million. The indoor arena, which will feature two fields, will be named the Discovery Family Sports Center. Revenue generated by the arena will serve as collateral for the loan the foundation is seeking from NationsBank to fund its share of construction costs.
"It has been a long process, but this has been our goal all along, and no one has done this before," said Maureen Hendricks, vice president of the foundation. "If others see how this works, maybe they will do it, too."
Already, 20,000 members of local soccer clubs are paying a $10-per-season assessment, or $20 a year, to the foundation to help pay its $11 million share of the project. In six years, the foundation projects it will post $1.8 million in annual revenue derived from league fees, tournaments, camps and clinics, concessions, sponsorships and other activities at the SoccerPlex.
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