Panel likes idea of sports in greenway

CEDAR RAPIDS - City officials say the best place for future athletic fields in the emerging post-flood greenway along the Cedar River is apt to be 16.6 acres of west-side property between the railroad bridge at Quaker Co. and Interstate 380.

The city has acquired or is acquiring all of the property there - with the exception of the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel, 100 F Ave. NW - as part of its voluntary buyout program.

The focus on athletic fields has sharpened as the Parks and Recreation Department and the City Council are reviewing a request from the Metro Youth Football Association. The group wants to acquire up to 20 acres of property in the greenway for four lighted regulation football fields, practice areas and parking.

At a meeting Monday, the council's three-member Development Committee spoke in favorable terms about the association's proposal and said it would like to see the council seek competitive proposals from the association and other interested groups with ideas for using part of the greenway.

Jim Angstman, a Metro Youth Football board member, asked the committee if there might be some flexibility in where in the greenway the association might locate football fields. He said it could take a few years to clear the property in the 16.6 acres that the Parks and Recreation Department has identified.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said other sites and ideas would be considered if the suggested area doesn't work for the football group.

“We don't want to lose you,” Pomeranz told Angstman, noting that the association was willing to invest nearly $500,000 in the project.

Sven Leff, the city's recreation superintendent, said the proposal presents several complicating factors. One, he said, is that the federal funds used to acquire the property likely will limit what kinds of permanent structures can be built on the ground so the structures don't impede water flow at the time of a flood.

The Metro Youth Football proposal calls for a 1,600-square-foot building, poles with lights, bleachers, fences and scorekeeper towers. Angstman said the group knows it might have to modify its request.

The greenway on the west side of the river will extend along First Street NW out to Penn Avenue.