Cape Coral’s Oasis Charter School is one step closer to having its own $12 million sports field complex after the Cape Coral City Council agreed May 7 to approve a contract with Avalon Engineering Inc. to design it.
Council approved final design services by Avalon for the Oasis Sports Field in the amount of $1,359,996 that would sit on the eastern side of the Oasis High, Middle and Elementary schools campus in the southwest Cape.
“The design that they’ve sent us we love,” Oasis Athletic Director Michael O’Brien said. “It’s going to change the whole dynamic of the school.”
Oasis High currently has a practice football field but plays home games at Caloosa Middle School and uses Cape Coral’s public fields for baseball and soccer.
The new complex won’t be available to the public but is intended for use by Oasis, a municipal charter school system sponsored by the School District of Lee County in partnership with the city of Cape Coral.
At a budget workshop in February, Assistant City Manager Mark Mason answered Cape Mayor John Gunter’s $12 million question — how will the city pay the upfront costs of the complex?
“We would issue debt,” Mason said. “If this is going to be solely a charter school facility, then the [Local Capital Improvement] funding is available to pay back the debt.”
It may also be used by other entities for a price, Gunter added. “We do foresee this [sports complex] as something we can lease out, as well,” he said.
After the May 7 meeting, council member Laurie Lehmann, whose District 2 encompasses Oasis, clarified. “Basically, the city is paying for it, but after it’s complete and gets underway, the Oasis Charter School will be paying the city back,” she said. “Ultimately, the idea is it will be solely owned by the school.”
The Cape Coral Charter School System includes two elementary schools and a middle school that with the high school serve more than 3,450 students and their families. City officials say the high school, which opened in 2009, was originally focused on academics and not athletics. Now it offers 23 athletic teams with more than 40% of the school’s more than 900 students participating in one or another. Its largest team sport is football, which expects to boast 75 members by 2026.
With a total estimated cost of $12,055,066, the most expensive features of the complex are a football field and track along with key infrastructure — bleachers, buildings, such as a concession area, a gym and locker rooms and a scoreboard — that together could cost upward of $5 million. The multiuse field also may be reconfigured for soccer, field hockey or lacrosse games. The facility on 9.6 acres would provide 1,160 seats for home team attendees and 580 for visitors. Plans also include a baseball/softball field, large area for food trucks, parking spaces, sidewalks, lighting, sound systems and security fences that surround the complex.
However, it may still take at least six months or more to complete the design, permitting and other preliminary work before deciding on a date when construction can begin.
“We are very excited to see shovels in the ground,” O’Brien said, but adds that he’s willing to be patient. “…We know that the end result is going to be fantastic.”
