July 2—Five years ago, Flathead Valley United began scoping out land to build a future indoor training facility. Although the pandemic slowed progress, land was finally acquired in 2021 and the soccer club is now moving forward with development.
Designed by Jackola Engineering and Architecture, the future 16,800-square-foot indoor sporting facility is strategically located in Evergreen to ensure accessibility for families across the Flathead Valley.
Damion Blackburn, FVU’s technical director, said the soccer club’s ethos is to serve the whole valley, so a centralized location was a big part of that decision and the design process.
“Evergreen is a natural location to do that for our communities,” he said.
The club, which has 18 teams, offers year-round programming to athletes with a mixture of team programs, summer camps, indoor soccer and supplemental training opportunities.
The building is expected to cost $3 million. The club is starting a capital fundraising campaign this summer.
After the five-year process, the property purchase was finalized thanks to a private anonymous donor connected to youth sports in the valley. Because the soccer club operates as a nonprofit, finances must be diligently managed, said Blackburn.
“We finally have all of our ducks in a row with regard to specific easements, what we can and cannot do with the size of the building, the footprint, and what parking we need. We only have so many funds, but we’ve done a great job of being smart with our money and providing opportunities and programming for our families that is very affordable,” said Blackburn.
The indoor facility space will be maximized to allow for a 7 versus 7 or 9 versus 9 field, mezzanine seating area for families to stay and watch, and indoor restrooms. In the future, Blackburn said FVU hopes to add a clubhouse and move administrative offices into the space to create in-house operations for the club.
“We’re in a great place now to look at starting a capital fundraising campaign in addition to leveraging the funds that we already have on hand. We’re looking at grants and anything else to help us along,” said Blackburn.
With limited indoor sporting facilities across the state, Flathead Valley United wants to ensure several sports clubs and teams can utilize the space throughout the year.
“We’re a soccer club primarily, but we consider ourselves a sporting club,” said Blackburn. “We’ve worked with lacrosse, for example, throughout the winters of the past 56 years where they’ve subleased space from us and we’re collaborating with other nonprofits to make sure that during the winter our kids have an opportunity for programming. “
In addition to providing space for other sports, the facility will be used for the adult soccer community to play during non-peak times. As the indoor space will be located right next to Evergreen Middle School, Blackburn also mentioned the possibility of collaboration with the school and even discussed using the building for community events.
“We want to be private owners of our facility and have complete autonomy of how we operate because we really want to make sure that its primary outlet is for kids, but that it can also serve the community of Evergreen,” said Blackburn.
Specific building logistics are still being decided by the board, such as the floor surfacing and the type of clean energy source to use. Blackburn did not have a definitive date as to when the building would be completed and said that “in an ideal world, we would have the funding to break ground now.”
“If we can provide an opportunity for the growth of the culture of soccer in the valley as well as helping other youth sporting clubs and other young athletes, it’s a win-win for us,” said Blackburn. “We want people to know that we’re here to serve kids, youth, and families, not only our members, but other nonprofits and organizations. We want to help in any way that we can.”
Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at [email protected].
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