Detroit soccer team to open 75,000-square-foot indoor sports facility
17 January 2018
Semi-professional club Detroit City FC (DCFC) is creating a 75,000-square-foot indoor soccer facility on Detroit's east side.
The Detroit City Fieldhouse is being renovated in the former City Sports Center ice skating rink at 3401 E. Lafayette St. in the city's Elmwood Park neighborhood.
The park is owned by Soave Enterprises. The facility is expected to open on Sept. 1.
The space will include newly-installed turf on boarded and non-boarded fields, primarily for its Detroit City Futbol League (DCFL) adult recreational soccer league, but will be available for multi-use sport options, according to DCFC.
DCFL has been running in the summer and fall since 2010 and currently has 32 teams.
"People have been looking for a proper facility to play in the city," DCFC co-owner Sean Mann said. "We have well over 1,000 people playing in it, but there wasn't a space for them to play inside."
He said there has been demand for an indoor field because DCFL teams have at times had to seek out facilities outside the city.
A clubhouse overlooking both fields with a full kitchen and bar will be built between the two fields.
DCFC also aims to develop partnerships with youth soccer programs in Metro Detroit to make the new fieldhouse a home to youth leagues.
"We're very excited for this next chapter for our organization, and for soccer in this city," Mann said in a news release. "Just as we envisioned the DCFL being more than a recreational soccer league, and Detroit City FC being more than a minor league soccer club, we believe the Fieldhouse can be more than just an indoor soccer facility."
"We envision a welcoming space that is the safest and most affordable soccer facility in the region, and also serves as a hub for healthier and more active lifestyles in the city."
City Sports Center was once a practice facility for the Detroit Red Wings and home to Grosse Pointe South and U of D Jesuit hockey programs, Wayne State University Women's Hockey, and adult recreational hockey leagues, according to the news release.
Source: mlive.com
