COLUMBUS, Ohio — The City of Columbus announced a new location for its Community Sports Park on Thursday.
The original location was going to be on the fairground property near Historic Crew Stadium. The land is owned by the Ohio Expositions Commission and has refused to grant a lease to the city, according to a spokesperson from Mayor Andrew Ginther's office.
Instead, the 69-acre sports site will now be at Kilbourne Run in northeast Columbus.
The mayor's office said in a release that when the city committed to supporting the Columbus Crew, it intended to assure Historic Crew Stadium would not become an abandoned facility and a sports park would be built in the area instead.
“While we leave the door open for negotiations with the state and remain prepared to invest in recreation facilities on the fairgrounds site, the community has waited long enough,” Ginther said.
The city already owns and maintains Kilbourne Run and will be enhancing millions of dollars to enhance it.
The park will also serve as a destination for regional tournaments.