San Jose Earthquakes officials are looking to locate their team training center at the site of the Golden Oak Restaurant on Condit Road in Morgan Hill.
Further, Earthquakes officials have proposed to operate the Outdoor Sports Center, located across the street, a move they say would increase activity and generate more spin-off effects with hotels and restaurants, according to City Manager Ed Tewes.
Earthquakes Executive Vice President David Alioto said Morgan Hill is a "soccer hotbed."
"Morgan Hill not only has some good soccer clubs, but it's home to the state cup tournaments," Alioto said.
That's why the Earthquakes submitted an application to the city to locate the Major League Soccer team's training center at 16695 Condit Road, where the Golden Oak was open for more than 20 years. Parks and Recreation Committee members will discuss the application at their meeting tonight.
"The Earthquakes Training Center will include a professional practice field developed to MLS league standards," San Jose Earthquakes partner Keith Wolff wrote in a letter to Tewes Nov. 5.
The campus would include a weight and cardio facility, treatment rooms, personnel offices and dining, video and meeting rooms.
According to the letter, the center would be used year-round and provide tours to youth groups and other community organizations.
Tewes said Monday that the
center's use would "definitely include the 40-something weekends a year that the CYSA has its tournaments."
Wolff requested a joint meeting with the city, the California Youth Soccer Association and the Earthquakes development team to discuss the "potential benefits to all parties involved."
Recreation Department Director Steve Rymer said that for the last eight months, the city has had several conversations with private parties to find a different way to operate the Outdoor Sports Center.
"We're looking at other ways of running our facilities, to limit operations and maintenance costs and enhance community access," he said. Rymer said one of the issues with the center is that there's no community access to it. Leasing to the Earthquakes would allow more, he said.
The city's desire to convert some soccer fields to baseball or softball fields across the street at the sports complex and the relocation of the soccer association to a 171-acre site in San Benito County would not impact Earthquakes officials' desire to locate the training center in Morgan Hill, Wolff wrote. The state cup tournaments would remain in Morgan Hill, according to Alioto and Rymer.
The Golden Oak Restaurant closed recently after at least a year of financial troubles, according to several Morgan Hill Rotary Club members. The Rotary Club held a weekly luncheon at the Golden Oak for years until word of financial issues reached them and a new site for the luncheon was sought.
The Rotary Club now meets at the Community & Cultural Center.
Several calls to Golden Oak Restaurant owner Ken Harlan were not returned by press time.
Alioto said Morgan Hill is not the only location the Earthquakes are considering, but declined to identify other locations or say how many there are.
"But we like the Morgan Hill location," he said.
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett is the education and city reporter for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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