For nearly six years, the Bethlehem Soccer Club has attempted to build a new indoor facility on its Wemple Road property.
That project finally broke ground on Monday, Sept. 29.
“It’s the culmination of several years of preparation and trying to pull the project together,” said Bethlehem Soccer Club President Jeremy Martelle. “The plan has gone through several presidents and boards before pulling together the resources to get it accomplished.”
The final iteration of the project was proposed through a new partnership between the Bethlehem Soccer Club and Afrim Sports. Afrim Nezaj will be paying for most of project and taking over day-to-day operations, with the soccer club acting as a landlord.
The plans call for a 43,000 square-foot indoor, inflatable soccer dome to be built at 450 Wemple Road. Two regulation fields would be inside the facility. Also included will be a 3,000 square-foot lobby, which would hold offices, a concession stand and a small retail area for soccer equipment.
The project received a height variance in July 2013. At 55 feet, the structure’s plans were 20 feet higher than what is allowed for a building in a rural zone and required a variance. A balloon test was held earlier that month at both the proposed site and alternate site on the property to get a visual of how high the building would be.
Neighbors had previously been against the plan, fearing the large dome structure would reduce property values and harm the tranquility of the area. Newer plans called for relocating some of the outdoor fields on the property in order to place the indoor facility farther away from neighbors, and a fence would be installed along a portion of the property’s border.
Traffic was one of the biggest issues. To mitigate the problem, developers said more of a buffer would be placed in between games to help with traffic flow. The property’s parking lot will also be improved, with two smaller lots added, changes to the exit and entrances and new lighting.
Nezaj said two full-time employees are expected to make up the staff, along with dozens of part-time employees and Bethlehem Soccer Club volunteers. The project is expected to help with the influx of kids’ signing-up for the soccer club in recent years.
Martelle said construction is expected to be finished in November, with kids having use of the indoor facility by winter.
“It’s important to note that when we put in the dome, we won’t be losing any outdoor space,” said Martelle. All four outdoor fields will still be available for use, but they have moved to better accommodate the space.
“This project is not to replace the outdoor fields, but to extend the season,” said Martelle. “We want to keep people in Bethlehem that instead would go to Colonie or Latham.”
Colonie facility also moves ahead
The plan for a new soccer complex in Colonie will also move forward following more than a year of setbacks.
Colonie’s Zoning Board of Appeals approved Nezaj’s newest project on Thursday, Oct. 1. The soccer dome and fields proposed by Nezaj will now head to the town’s Planning Board for final approval. However, the owner of Afrim Sports feels confident the project will meet the expectations of officials.
“It’s been a long process, but it feels great to finally get approved,” said Nezaj. “I’m someone who doesn’t like to look back as much as look to the future, so I’m very excited to be able to move ahead.”
Earlier this year, the zoning board had denied a variance that would allow the construction of the complex in land adjacent to Memory Gardens cemetery on Watervliet Shaker Road.
Opponents of the project said they were worried the noise and traffic from the soccer complex would be disruptive to memorial services and the overall serenity of the site. Those in favor of it said decibel levels were well under the acceptable range and that there was a great need for a sporting facility of this type.
The project was given new life when the Town of Colonie passed a resolution creating special use permits in May. With that resolution, Nezaj no longer needed to get the parcel rezoned in order to build the complex.
Zoning board members said the project met the requirements for a special use permit. The board was originally scheduled to hear the proposal in August, but the meeting was pushed back until October to meet the requirements of a 30-day comment period between a proposal’s submission and the zoning board meeting.
The project is to include an 86,865-square-foot-dome for indoor games, with four fields outside. Nezaj said the complex would be very similar to the Afrim Sports headquarters already built in Latham.
“We expect it to be another six months to a year before we break ground,” said Nezaj.