Antioch sports complex to get restrooms

The Tim Osmond Sports Complex is saying goodbye to portable toilets, as Antioch Township prepares to round out its portion of the village-township co-op project.

Township Supervisor Steve Smouse said he expects construction to begin next week on a 700-square-foot building that will house restrooms and storage at the 80-acre Depot Street park.

Smouse said work on the township-owned portion of the park — the northeastern 40 acres — should be finished by fall.

“It's nice to get this wrapped up,” he said. “The township didn't have any parks at all when we started this ... and now we have permanent facilities for all these sports teams, plus anybody who wants to have a pickup game.”

Work on the joint village-township project began five years ago, and the second of the four phases of development is nearly complete. Construction of the new restroom and storage building will cost about $340,000, which an Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Program state matching grant will fund. Smouse said the money will be reimbursed following the project's completion.

The park officially opened in September 2009. A sledding hill, an 18-hole disc golf course, two competition football fields, two baseball/softball fields, a soccer field, bags and bocce courts, a running trail, a gazebo and a playground have already been installed.

Not all of the financial burden is on the village and township. Many individuals and private groups have donated money, and many amenities at the park have been contributed by local sports organizations.

The Viking Youth Football Association, for example, installed its own bleachers and scoreboards and a concession stand. The Antioch Youth Little League has similarity provided equipment, such as bleachers and dugouts.

“All we have to do is provide them with a place to play, and they kind of take care of it themselves from there,” Smouse said.