Pontiac Sports Facility To Expand On Former GM Property
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - Pontiac could soon be known as "Soccer City."
Ultimate Soccer Arenas announced Wednesday that its expanding on land once owned by General Motors -- adding 32 acres to its property to make way for what's being called the largest indoor "non-professional" soccer facility in the world.
"We always felt that this was a salvageable city," said Ultimate Soccer" co-owner George Derderian. "We looked at a lot of different pieces of property and this far and away was the best piece."
The complex, located on South Boulevard, will be adding a 60,000-square-foot indoor facility with turf, two outdoor fields and 650 parking spaces. Derderian said the expansion will also create 25 new full-time jobs.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said with the expansion, Pontiac will become a destination city for soccer enthusiasts.
"The owners are taking this facility and doubling its size, to the point where it will become the largest indoor non-professional facility in the world and it's all going to take place right here, so we're excited," he said.
The former GM site is managed by the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust. A U.S. bankruptcy court created the trust in 2011 to clean up and prepare for redevelopment the properties owned by the automaker before its 2009 bankruptcy. The trust took over 89 GM-owned facilities in 14 states.
Ultimate Soccer Arenas opened in 2007. It hosts soccer and lacrosse games.
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