The new soccer complex located at Five Mile Dam Park (Courtesy photo)
STAFF REPORT
Hays County, along with the city of San Marcos, will dedicate the new 43-acre soccer complex at Five-Mile Dam Park at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 18.
The ribbon cutting ceremony culminates an eight-year, $4.5 million partnership between the city and county to create a soccer complex near the Blanco River on the edge of southern Kyle. Officials say the complex will help draw local, regional and statewide competitions.
Cost-sharing between the two governments allowed “our bond funds to go farther in providing additional recreational options for Hays County residents,” said Pct. 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe.
Said San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz, “It helps realize the goal of our city council to establish San Marcos as a prime location for sports tourism, attracting visitors from across the state and contributing to our local economy.”
The opening tournament over Labor Day weekend attracted more than 3,000 competitors and spectators. The complex features 10 full-size soccer fields, a large concession building with a meeting room and office, picnic area, 850 feet of limestone seats, and a one mile sidewalk around the fields. As of Tuesday, the parks remained closed because of flooding last week, but the parks are expected to re-open in time for the dedication ceremony, officials said.
Through grants and other funding, Hays County contributed more than $2 million for design and engineering, infrastructure work, a playscape, pavilion, lighting, trails and xeriscaping for the 43-acres it purchased in 2004 that now is home to soccer fields and other improvements.
Additionally, $700,000 from the 2007 park bond funds was provided to the city of San Marcos for the soccer complex improvements.
“Hays County was pleased to partner with the city of San Marcos to make our bond funds go farther in providing additional recreational options for Hays County residents,” Ingalsbe said. “The Five Mile Dam Park Complex provides an inviting, accessible and much-needed recreational space for the entire family, whether your interests are in organized sports, watching your children have fun at the playscape, taking a cool swim or just sitting back to enjoy nature.”
Funding has come from the Hays County Parks Bond Program, City of San Marcos Capital Projects, grants from the U.S. Department of Interior and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Lower Colorado River Authority, U.S. Soccer Foundation and Carma Developers.
The soccer complex adjoins the county’s Dudley Johnson and Randall Vetter parks along the Blanco River. Those river-front parks, with walking trails and picnic areas, provide a natural green space for swimming and boating that complement the new park’s soccer fields and playscape.
A brief history of Five Mile Dam parks complex
The parks complex consists of three separate parks: Hays County’s Dudley Johnson (15.56 acres) and Randall Vetter (17.859 acres) and the city of San Marcos-Hays County 10-field soccer complex on 43 acres adjoining acres.
• On May 10, 1973, Tom C. Johnson and his wife, Hazel G. Johnson, deeded 14.36 acres to the county for $10. This conveyance was subject to the property forever being utilized as a public park to be known as “Dudley C. Johnson Park,” and that grantee build and maintain a substantial fence along the southeast boundary line. Later, 1.2 acres was gifted to the county by Stanley Hughson to serve as a drainage easement.
• On August 9, 2001, Hays County bought 17.859 acres adjacent to the south end of Dudley Johnson Park. The property was purchased from the “Dam Blanco Partners” for $150,000, a price substantially lower than the appraised value of $210,000. It was named by the Hays County Commissioners Court in memory of Texas Department of Public Safety Officer Randall Wade Vetter who was killed nearby in 2000.
