PROVO, Utah — 100 acres of farmland on the West side of Provo Will soon become Provo Regional Sports Park.
“It was part of a church far and was originally owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," said Scott Henderson, Director of Parks and Recreation for Provo City. "When we were negotiating on it, they really liked the purpose that we had behind it, creating a park that promoted active lifestyles and enjoying these things together and bringing people to Provo."
$20 million worth of federal grants and local funds will build twenty-one flat fields for soccer and football, forty-five pickleball courts, playgrounds and a walking track. Local needs are driving the development, said Henderson.
“We have 330 soccer teams playing on 11 fields in Provo," he said. "We were having to limit registration, turning away hundreds of kids interested in playing and being active because we did not have the fields that they could play on.”
The park will also host international tournaments.
“Taking up a lot of farm ground here on the West side of where the airport is and just an explosion of development and interest in really coming to Provo and taking advantage of the secret sauce here in Provo," said Brian Torgersen, Director of the Provo Airport.
The Provo airport is now seeking funding to add more flights, bring in new airlines and become an international airport, said Torgersen.
“We feel like the airport expansion is a huge part of making that facility, the Regional Sports Park, a success, and allowing, teams from outside of the state of Utah to fly in and be literally steps away from their field," he said.
Thousands of visitors per tournament could pour millions of dollars into Utah County’s economy, said Torgersen.
“We're kind of down here by ourselves and a lot of times were kind of isolated from the rest of the city, but that's changing fast," he said.
The city aims to open the Regional Sports Park in the fall of 2024.
