A focal point of Blue Ash, Summit Park, could get a new neighbor: a 5,000-seat football stadium surrounded by three hotels.
On Thursday, city council set public comment for May 8. The city manager said council could vote on the proposal as early as May 8, but typically a second reading and vote would happen in June.
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“No, for real, that’s going to be nice. They think they’re going to be in the NFL. That’s a big stadium,” Kayla Griffin, who was bringing children to Summit Park, said.
“It’s nice to have open green space. We don’t need to have everything built up,” Nicki Stratford, who lives in Sharonville, said.
Developers are calling it a “walkable, energized, sports and entertainment anchored mixed-use development.”
“The Summit” would include the stadium, an attached hotel and additional space:
- 17,575 square feet of retail, restaurant and bar space.
- Approximately ‘195 luxury apartment units’
- Restaurant and meeting space of around 27,150 square feet
“The Fieldhouse” would be a 60,600 square foot indoor event venue with ‘an athletics emphasis’ designed for basketball, volleyball, cheer competitions and the ability to be used for business events. It would be attached to:
- Two “nationally branded hotels” totaling around 300 total rooms
- Ground-level retail, restaurant and service at 37,625 feet
On council member Brian Gath’s website, he writes that it would accomplish Blue Ash residents’ goals of being a place that is “alive after 5.”
Council member Jeff Capell is already concerned with transparency.
“The developer out here would come into the council meeting and have a long discussion with council about what we would support and what we would not support. That discussion was never placed on the agenda, so residents didn’t even know that it was happening until it was over. That did not sit well with me,” Capell said.
He says the stadium would be for Moeller High School football and worries it’d be locked up when they’re not using it.
“So we’re going to have this big structure right outside our park, consuming prime real estate, and you couldn’t even just walk around the track when it’s not otherwise in use,” Capell said.
People at Summit Park are sharing mixed reviews.
“Of all the things they could build there, a stadium sounds very strange,” Doug Spring, who lives in Blue Ash, said.
“There’s a lot of traffic already, which is great. It’s great that we live so close to this, but it’s not going to be great on Friday nights during football season,” Stratford said.
