FARMINGTON — Follow the bouncing soccer ball.
Design bids for a new 10-acre soccer field complex to be developed at Legacy Events Center — like a ball in play — are all over the place, going from a high of $41,180 to a low of $4,500.
On Tuesday, Davis County officials received 15 bids for the four soccer field complex that is to be part of the Legacy Events Center grounds at 151 S. 1100 West., in Farmington.
“They do seem varied in what they see as the scope of work,” Davis County Commissioner John Petroff Jr. said after having further time to review the bids.
One reason for the bid variations, Petroff said, is that some of the submissions involve an entire redesign of the center grounds versus just the southeast portion of the property set aside for the soccer complex.
Also, there were companies whose bids did not include surveying or soil sampling, Petroff said, explaining the rationale behind some of the lower bids.
“It was kind of hard to bid it,” he said of the project. “It’s not like bidding a certain section of highway and giving them the blueprints.”
The bids will be reviewed during the next several days, with the hope of deciding on a designer by next week, Petroff said.
The soccer complex project is being designed with the intent to expand on what the multifaceted center campus has to offer, and to bring outside groups into the county, Davis County Legacy Event Center Director Dave Hansen said.
The competition soccer fields also are expected to meet some of the current, heavy demand for fields in some city adult recreation leagues, officials said.
However, county officials already have met with many city recreation leaders to let them know the county does not wish to compete directly with those city programs.
The soccer fields are expected to cost about $300,000 to develop, Hansen said.
Funding for the project will come from the county’s tourism tax, which generates about $4.4 million a year from hotels, restaurants and vehicle rental outlets tax revenues.
Tourism tax revenues can be allocated for cultural and recreation projects that draw visitors to the area.
Hansen said it would be his hope that the county would make a return on the investment through the dollars soccer participants and spectators spend in the local community while attending the games and tournaments.
The intent of the county is to obtain funding in time to seed the fields this spring, and have the fields ready for regular soccer play within the next year or two, depending on the time the grass on the fields needs to take root, Hansen said.
Because the property will likely double as a flood detention basin, flood control funds could be used toward the cost of putting the fields in place, leaving a “minimal amount” needed to come from the tourism tax, County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings said.
Kaysville City Parks and Recreation, Utah Youth Soccer Association and the Davis Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, have publicly spoken in support of the project.
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