Ottawa to use $636,540 OSLAD grant for field sports complex, future home of soccer club

While there still are plenty of details to be worked out, the new sports complex in Ottawa is well on its way.

The city of Ottawa had applied for and on Monday was awarded an Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant in the amount of $636,540, which will be used for the purchase of land for a new sports complex at a location not yet identified.

According to Mayor Robb Hasty, the Ottawa Park Land Acquisition Project, as it was named in the grant application, is expected to involve more than 70 acres in size and more than one property owner.

“We have plans of growing this into a regional sports complex to serve all kinds of field sports.”

—  Ottawa Mayor Robb Hasty

He added the city has “an idea where it would like the complex to go,” but it is not allowed to have a contract for sale of property until it receives a letter from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources officially transferring the OSLAD funds.

That letter should arrive by February at the latest, he said, but because the awards came earlier than normal this year, he hopes the letter will be early and the effort “can move forward even faster.”

“That is our hope.

“This is one of the projects I’ve been working on since Day 1, so Monday was a great day for us,” he said. “Having a sports complex in Ottawa is something I’ve been pushing for from the start and we’ve had a lot of conversations, there have been a lot of ups and downs, so now to finally get to the position where we know we’ll be acquiring the property and we can definitely be moving forward, it’s such a win for the city. I’m really excited about it.”

The facility will in its initial phase serve as the home for the Ottawa Soccer Club, but eventually also involve football, rugby, field hockey and a variety of field sports.

As the project advances, Hasty said determinations will be made in subsequent phases that may include a field house or a dome that would make the venue available for play all year round.

“The soccer club has been looking for a home for a couple of years,” Hasty said, “so when we told them we received the OSLAD grant, they were obviously really excited.

“But this is going to be more than just that. We have plans of growing this into a regional sports complex to serve all kinds of field sports … We don’t know what those next steps are going to be, but there will be further development and we plan on making this a 365-day-a-year facility, in a phased in approach.

“It takes time to make ground playable for sports, so if everything lines up well, we may be able to have soccer there in the fall and I’ll be pushing for that, but it will definitely be ready by the spring of 2026.”

The city, which has in the past received OSLAD grants for projects at both Allen and Thornton parks, was well aware there is a city contribution required for the grant, so the city has been budgeting for those funds for some time.

“We’re very familiar of what the numbers have to be,” Hasty said. “Now it’s just a matter of shaking hands and making it official.”