The aging athletic facilities and fields at Pinellas Park's youth sports center will be completely removed and a new upgraded sports campus will take its place.  

A newly filed stormwater application permit calls for demolition of the existing 39-acre youth park site at 4100 66th Avenue North located just off U.S. Highway 19 and Interstate 275. 

The park currently consists of three natural grass baseball fields, a tennis court, a roller hockey rink, visitor seating, and parking. 

The new center will open in summer 2025 with six new artificial turf baseball fields, an artificial turf soccer field, a new concession stand, and the replacement of the outdoor hockey rink provided through the Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hockey Foundation. 

"The aging facility and basketball courts were piecemealed together over 30 years - there wasn't a [full cohesive] master plan," Pinellas Park Assistant Community Development Administrator Aaron Petersen said to St. Pete Rising. 

Last year, the city awarded Clearwater-based The Sports Facilities Companies a contract to oversee the development and programming. 

The sports management group has developed and programmed various athletic centers in Florida, including the Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples and the Publix Sports Park in Panama City Beach. 

Peterson said the team has completed 60% of the design work, which kicked off in August. The existing sports facilities will be demolished starting in early July. 

The $23.5 million enhanced sports center will also replace the baseball and football fields of the Davis Park Complex at 6050 Railroad Avenue, also known as Davis Field, which was the home field for the Pinellas Park Thunderbirds football team and practice field for other teams. 

The site will be repurposed as Davis Commons, a central civic public greenspace for the emerging City Center District that will become the new “downtown” of Pinellas Park, encompassing 15 city blocks around Davis Park. 

According to the 2050 comprehensive plan, the City Center District will house a new city hall, a public safety (law enforcement, fire and emergency services) facility, residential and commercial uses, and public parks.

With the new and expanded park offerings, Peterson said the reimagined youth sports center will have a new main entrance off 62nd Street North to mitigate vehicular traffic congestion in the surrounding residential area. 

Currently, under separate permits, the site utilizes two retention ponds to fulfill the stormwater requirements of the existing infrastructure. 

Per the new plans, a trail will be built around the perimeter of one of the ponds. 

Lying south of the property is a vacant site that may be developed as part of the sports center in a future phase, Peterson said. 

In 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approved $13.5 million in funding for the sports center as it will serve the underserved youth of Pinellas Park and the nearby Lealman community.  

Infrastructure sales tax and American Rescue Plan Act dollars are also covering the costs of the new center. 

The city is working with Clearwater-based general contracting firm Park and Eleazer Construction.

Also on the development are Ohio-based Osborn Engineering and the OSPORTS architectural firm.