MIDDLETOWN—Every year Carlos and Lindaly Solano drive to Miami for their annual vacation. On the way down they talk about their dream to build an indoor soccer facility in New York.
Those plans may finally happen and Middletown appears to be the lucky recipient. City officials have greeted the project with open arms.
Solano and his development team, Goshen attorney Peter Botti and the architectural firm of David Crawford AIA, appeared before the Middletown planning board on March 2 to present a preliminary plan for the complex.
Solano bought several properties along Union Street and is now working on finalizing a site plan to bring before the Middletown planning board. Work has already begun on demolishing the three dilapidated buildings on the site.
Botti told board members the project is estimated to cost about $3 million, although Solano said that may rise as the cost of construction is finalized.
Aware the project is still in its early planning stages, Middletown Planning Board Chairman Laurence Risdal asked about the need for more parking spaces than were available in the immediate vicinity. Business Improvement District Director John Degnan pointed out several relatively unused lots that could be used.
Full-Service Facility
The Solanos have more ideas than can be accommodated on the property. They hope to build 14 apartment units, a health food bar, equipment and gaming rooms, and mezzanine seating to watch soccer play at the indoor facility. Solano said he is working with his team to see how much they can fit in.
Solano plans a snack bar that serves “something fast but also healthy.” A coffee bar is also planned, his wife said, “like Starbucks.”
Solano said his father, who lives in Costa Rica, has a coffee production plant that could supply a high-quality brew for guests at the complex.
A mezzanine is planned above the indoor playing field where wives and mothers can sip java and watch family members play. A clubhouse is planned so adults can bring their children when they play soccer. “We were thinking about that for families. Wives want to see their husbands playing,” Lindaly Solano said.
Carlos Solano sees several ways the city will benefit. A big one is jobs. He plans to coach himself and to hire other professional soccer trainers. Vendors of sports equipment will be invited to market their goods. There will be service jobs for a planned cafeteria, snack bar, and clubhouse.
The complex will offer affordable living space in the downtown area, and Lindaly will manage the facility and apartment units. She noted the colleges that are making Middletown their home and said the apartments would be great for students.
“I am trying to put something together that people can afford, but at the same time where people want to live,” Carlos Solano said.
