Sanford, FL – May 22, 2017 – With “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” playing in the background, Seminole County Commissioners, representatives from the Tourist Development Council, project team members, and community guests joined together on May 17  to cut the ribbon on the redeveloped Soldiers Creek Park, a state-of-the-art recreational facility designed specifically for women’s fast-pitch softball and youth baseball. Wharton-Smith provided construction management services on the $7.5 million project.

“Soldiers Creek welcomed the children of Seminole County to play ball on her two fields in the early 1970’s,” remarked Chairman John Horan of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners as he opened the ceremony. “Forty-five years later we celebrate her fields opening once again to her residents and most importantly to our visitors.”

Located on 25 acres, the newly developed Soldiers Creek Park features six natural turf fields with state-of-the-art LED lighting, eight lanes of batting cages, warm-up and assembly areas, a central indoor meeting space for group events, playground, and concession and hospitality space. “This is indeed a field of dreams,” Horan added.

The Soldiers Creek project was fully funded by tourist development tax dollars. Amateur tournament sports is one of the largest and fastest growing market segments today. With 20 tournaments already on the books for 2017, Soldiers Creek is expected to bring in more than 700 teams, 10,000 athletes, and 20,000 visitors to Seminole County this year alone resulting in a local economic impact of approximately $3.5 million.

“As a Seminole County-based company truly invested in this community, it is exciting to be a part of projects such as Soldiers Creek and the Seminole County Sports Complex,” said Rick Bundy, Project Executive for Wharton-Smith. “This is our home and working with Seminole County on projects that support youth sports in our community is something we can be truly proud of,” he added.

University of Central Florida Softball legend and Seminole County native, Stephanie Best, expressed excitement for the young girls who will play there and appreciation for everyone involved. “This is a softball complex, but it is also a foundation for building leaders,” she said. “I can’t wait to see the traffic that this facility brings to help make our community of Seminole County even stronger.

The ceremony was followed by a scrimmage game between the Diamond Girlz, a local amateur women’s fast-pitch softball league.

Photos from the event are located on our Flickr site here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskX5BRW3

To view highlights of the event, click here: Soldiers Creek Grand Opening