Soldotna previews field house as opening nears

The Soldotna Field House is a massive space with curtains that can split the area into multiple zones. Modular flooring will be installed to create different courts and fields to suit seasonal needs. Seen Wednesday, the nearly completed field house has a floor of bare concrete, but it could be a series of basketball courts or a large field or both. Upstairs, a walking track runs along the perimeter of a balcony that also provides viewing from above.

Ahead of the grand opening of the Soldotna Field House later this summer, Soldotna’s Parks and Recreation Department previewed the facility to the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. They highlighted the facility’s schedule, fees and features before inviting people for a look at the building.

From January into April, the facility will have turf flooring for flag football, baseball, softball, soccer and rugby. In May and through August, the facility will have courts for pickleball, basketball, volleyball and futsal. From September through December, the field house will be set up with two courts and one turf. It takes roughly a day and a half to switch out the flooring material, Parks and Recreation Director Joel Todd said, which is why the seasonal model was developed.

Admission pricing was based on “a very extensive research process” of other recreation facilities in the state and beyond. General admission costs $5 and provides access to the walking track, open gym and drop-in sports. There’s also a $3 discounted rate for youth 4-18 years old, seniors older than 65, active-duty military and veterans. There’s a 10-punch card, a 30-day membership and a three-month pass available as well, each with a general and discounted rate.

Hourly rentals will be available for the turf, court and batting cage, as well as an event rental. A pickleball court rental costs $20, a basketball court rental is $50, a half-field turf rental is $60 and a single-day event rental is $2,500, among other options.

Makai-Lynn Randall, assistant director for Soldotna’s parks and recreation department, said she’s been working with local groups and users to prepare them for the opportunities of the new field house. The Soldotna Little League can get in for early season tryouts before the ball fields are dry. Pop Warner Football can play without having to shovel their field first.

The Kenai River Sportfishing Association will be the first to host a major event in the field house, with their Kenai River Classic and Kenai River Classic Roundtable set for the week after the field house opens in August before the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank holds their annual soup supper in the same space the following weekend.

Randall spotlighted an extensive array of sound dampening panels that allow the facility to host large groups of people or events without sounding like they’re packed in a “giant steel barn.”

Operating hours for the facility weren’t described during the presentation.

The field house is a longtime coming, Todd said, with earliest conversations dating back to at least 2003. There was a feasibility study in 2009, and then Soldotna’s government decided to move forward in 2015. A ballot measure failed in 2019 by only 18 votes.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Todd said, “a lot of people realized how important recreation was.” The field house is a city-operated space for people to recreate and see one another in — when it returned to the ballot in 2022, it saw overwhelming support. Only a few years later, less than two after an October 2023 groundbreaking, the building is almost ready to open.

“A year ago, today, we were over there digging dirt,” Todd said. “In about 13 months, we got the keys to the building.”

A grand opening for the Soldotna Field House is scheduled for Aug. 16.

For more information, find “Soldotna Parks & Recreation” on Facebook.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.