French Soccer a Step Closer to $25M San Clemente Institute

Officials with the French Soccer Institute say they want to change the way young athletes move into pro soccer in the U.S., and Tuesday they moved a step closer to starting the process in San Clemente.

The group of elite European pro players and coaches approached the city of San Clemente a year ago to try to lease unused land at Richard T. Steed Memorial Park for their proposed $25-million facility. The San Clemente City Council Tuesday approved staffers to draw up a lease agreement that would potentially allow them to build it.

Alexis Gallice of the institute said the group came up with the plans and location for the facility -- which they'll call "Domaine Clairefontaine" -- after years of careful study. 

"We did seven years of studies and hard work with the technical committee," Gallice said.

The institute would include intensive soccer training for boys and girls who showed extraordinary talent, and would be paired with academic training to make sure the young athletes didn't fall behind in their studies, Gallice said.

Stephane Koval of the institute showed a conceptual rendering of the facility, which would include two fields -- one natural turf and one artificial turf -- a restaurant and shopping center, arboretum, a fitness center, classrooms, offices and parking.

"We want to make this plan, and make this plan in San Clemente," Gallice said. "We think this is the best place."

Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director Sharon Heider said that during the initial construction phase, the French Soccer Institute would develop two extra fields at the Vista Hermosa Sports Park to use in the interim. Those fields would then revert to the city once the institute moved into the permanent facility. Furthermore, Heider said, the institute agreed to work some kind of public use of the main facility into the lease agreement for the land at Steed Park.

"It's important to have a connection with the local territory and community," Gallice said.

Council members were largely enthusiastic about the potential deal. Councilman Tim Brown, however, said he wanted to include stipulations that the lease would be non-transferable, and the city would offer no cash or other concessions to the institute.

T. Pall Gudgeirsson also suggested negotiations include some kind of contingency account be set up for the institute to pay if the city needed to hire extra parks and rec staff or planning staff in connection with the project -- which the institute said they ideally want to finish in total near the beginning of 2016.

It was the potential strain of negotiations and building approvals on city resources that led Councilwoman Lori Donchak to be the sole dissenter in the decision to begin lease negotiations.

Donchak mentioned all the various parks projects on the horizon -- Ole Hanson Beach Club renovations, the new Vista Hermosa Sports Park, fast-tracked beach bathroom renovations, four new parks at Marblehead Coastal and others. 

"How does this fit into this vast menu of things we're asking you to do for our community?" Donchak asked Heider. "I need a nap just reading your list."

Heider replied that the possible institute lease could offer a sustainable source of revenue to pay for parks projects into the future.