The Mesa Del Sol Regional Outdoor Sports Complex will get a lot nicer in the coming months,Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Planning Manager John Barney said Thursday.
Barney updated the county Youth Sports Commission on the progress being made on the project, south of Albuquerque International Sunport.
He said a new parking area will be finished by springtime, providing more spaces for sports tournaments as well as events at the nearby Isleta Amphitheater.
Barney said crews are adding sod to two of the six fields at the complex, two are already turfed and work on the last two is done, and noted that he expects to have a design contract signed this month and all six fields and the parking should be done by July.
He said construction will start on two new synthetic turf fields, and more parking will begin in the second half of 2025.
Ruben Trujillo, a county events coordinator, said lights on two existing synthetic turf fields at the complex were activated last week and the lighting system is programmable and can illuminate the field without staff present or making renters responsible for shutting the lights off.
Barney said other parts of the project include a field house building and access roads connecting fields at the south end of the complex to Bobby Foster Road.
He said the timeline for constructing the various parts of the project will depend on the pace of funding.
County officials have estimated the total cost of the project at $48 million, most of which has already been secured. Voters in November approved $2.2 million in fields and infrastructure for the sports complex.
County leaders plan to ask the New Mexico Legislature for another $4.1 million or so in the upcoming session. If successful, that would mean more than $42 million in total acquired for the project.
“We want (to build) the field house next, or do we want four more fields?” Barney said. “That’s up to you guys. You’re going to be doing the legwork to get the money. We’ll build what we get money for.”
Kathy Korte, the county’s chief of government affairs, said the completed complex will have 31 sports fields and will draw regional and national tournaments to Albuquerque.