Does Lakeland's robust parks and recreation system come short? Answer may surprise you

Lakeland prides itself on its extensive parks and recreation system, but it still has residents who are looking for a place to play ball.

Pam Paige, the deputy director the city's parks, recreation and cultural arts, said the city doesn't have the sports fields its needs to provide space for all the community's youth and adult leagues.

"We have less than half the recommended number of multi-purpose ballfields," Page said. "We only have two-thirds of the baseball, softball and playgrounds recommended by the National Recreation and Park Association."

The shortage of ballfields, also counted as multipurpose fields, is Page's biggest concern. Many of the city's fields are technically classified as multipurpose fields, designed to be pivoted for use for football, soccer, lacrosse and other sports if the city's needs change in the future.

"The lack of ballfields is a great concern and the one we field the most complaints about from our users," she said. "We don't have enough ballfields to accommodate the leagues and programs in our community today, let alone our future growth."

Bob Donahay, the city's director of parks, recreation and cultural arts, said on average he has two to three meetings a month with a league or youth program where he has to tell them he doesn't have a site for them to use. One example, Donahay said, is he's had to turn down a request from Swan City Soccer Club with more than 2,000 registered players.

Commissioner Chad McLeod asked whether Page's assessment of the city's fields was including the baseball fields that are planned for Lake Crago Park and three fields planned for the city's southwest park, English Creek.

Lakeland still comes up short with those unbuilt fields included, Page said, despite the fact there's no funding budgeted for future construction of Lake Crago or English Creek.

English Creek's future sports fields should be constructed using artificial turf, Page said, if the city wants to get the most use out of them. There are approximately 19,000 residents who can access the future park site by existing pedestrian and bike pathways. That number is expected to continue to grow as more single-family homes are built.

Lakeland commissioners should consider gradually transitioning all of its multipurpose fields over to artificial turf, Page said.

Donahay said this would allow the fields to be used around the clock, 24/7, whereas currently the city must rotate fields because of wear and tear, sometimes closing them for periods of time to allow for grass regrowth.

The estimated cost to construct three multi-purpose fields at Lake Crago was $3 million with LED lighting, a parking lot and restrooms adjacent to the fields. These fields did not utilize artificial turf, which is significantly more expensive.

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In response to the commissioners, Donahay said artificial turf fields generally come with an eight-year "bumper to bumper" warranty.

"We want to make sure that this is built into our budget as we move forward," Mayor Bill Mutz said.

The City Commission will meet to have more in-depth conversations about its funding choices for its fiscal year 2025 budget in July.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland doesn't have enough sports fields, city staff says