Detroit City FC unveils plans for fieldhouse

Detroit City FC has plans to renovate a former ice rink in Detroit, turning it into a 75,000-square foot indoor soccer facility it’s calling the Detroit City Fieldhouse.

The fieldhouse will be located at the former City Sports Center ice rink at 3401 E. Lafayette St., with plans to open in September, according to a news release from Detroit City FC.

DCFC is financing renovations that include new turf and lighting. The facility, which once was used as a practice facility for the Detroit Red Wings and home to high school hockey programs at Grosse Pointe South and U-D Jesuit, among others, will include boarded and non-boarded fields for adult recreational soccer leagues, “with the availability for multi-sport use.”

The fieldhouse will serve as a home for DCFC’s “neighborhood-based” recreational adult soccer league, the Detroit City Futbol League. Plans include for it to host youth soccer clubs and leagues as well.

“We’re very excited for this next chapter for our organization, and for soccer in this city,” DCFC co-owner and DCFL founder Sean Mann said in the release. “Just as we envisioned the DCFL being more than a recreational soccer league, and Detroit City FC being more than a minor league soccer club, we believe the Fieldhouse can be more than just an indoor soccer facility. We envision a welcoming space that is the safest and most affordable soccer facility in the region, and also serves as a hub for healthier and more active lifestyles in the city.”

A clubhouse overlooking both fields also is in the plans, offering a full bar and kitchen, and spaces also will be available for “athletically oriented startup businesses,” according to the release.