Despite Requests For Grass, Turf Coming To Wesley Chapel District Park

By Matt Wiley

After rejecting an original bid to construct new fields at the Wesley Chapel District Park (WCDP), the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has now approved a bid to construct two new artificial-turf fields at the facility on Boyette Rd.

During the February 25 BOCC meeting, commissioners voted 4-1 to award the contract to Tampa-based Mainstay Construction Services, LLC. The cost for the construction of the new fields will be $1.9 million and will be paid for with park impact fees.

The lone opposing vote came from BOCC chair Jack Mariano, who argued that the county should spend money constructing five or six new grass fields, which had been the request of the Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA) and NDP Lacrosse — which is under contract with the county and puts on the annual Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions at WCDP.

By expanding the number of fields at WCDP, the county hopes to keep the lacrosse tournament in Wesley Chapel, although NDP’s contract with Pasco runs out in a year, at which point it can take the tournament anywhere it likes. Up until February 24, NDP director of operations Josh Gross reportedly had been happy with any number of fields being added, whether turf or grass, but had sent an email to the BOCC requesting five grass fields the day before the meeting.

“More fields in a single location is ideal,” Mariano read from the NDP email. “We’d greatly prefer the construction of five grass fields over two turf fields.”

However, after hearing from Ed Caum, Pasco’s director of tourism, the commissioners decided to move forward with the turf fields.

“It comes down to operation and maintenance expenses,” Caum told the BOCC. Maintaining five or six more fields would be much more difficult, he said.

In addition, Caum said that the new fields are likely to draw more people and tournaments to the park as a tourism development project. Otherwise, they would have to be paid for and maintained by the Parks & Recreation Department.

“I think you guys are making a big mistake,” Mariano said, following the 4-1 vote approving the turf.

NDP’s Gross says that it really doesn’t matter if the fields are turf or grass; the Dick’s tournament just needs more fields on which to play. His opinion on the number of fields needed, he says, has never wavered.

“Two fields help,” Gross says. “But, that’s not as many fields as I think we’ll need in the future.”

Gross says that he is excited that the county stepped up and made the decision to add the fields, but adds that playing the tournament at one location is paramount to its continued success.

“I see the tournament growing tremendously this year,” Gross explains. “We played at two facilities this past year and we may need to play at three this coming December. Spreading (the tournament) out can be a nightmare for teams and the event starts to lose its atmosphere.”

The original (and only) bid — submitted by QGS (Quality Grassing Services) Development, Inc. — was rejected by the BOCC back in October due to going over the county’s budget. The bid process for the project was then reopened and six responses were received from contractors, all of which were from companies located outside Pasco County. After consideration, the Pasco Purchasing Department recommended Mainstay’s proposal, which includes only the two turf fields.

WCAA president Tom FitzSimons says that, in his opinion, the decision was not the right one and that more grass fields would have been a better investment that would have better suited future lacrosse tournaments like Dick’s.

“This seems like a shortsighted way to keep the (Tournament of Champions) in the county,” FitzSimons says. “I think that if NDP wants the tournament to keep growing in the next few years, they are going to have to find a bigger facility.”