The City Council is expected to consider a rezoning case Tuesday that would clear the way for the nearly 20-acre complex at 395 Altamesa Blvd., just east of Interstate 35W.

The proposed complex would include a 23,000-square-foot indoor training facility and four fields for high school and youth baseball and softball.

The land is currently zoned for single-family housing but is located in a floodplain, making it unattractive to developers, said Rebecca Castro, a spokesperson for Sluggers Youth Academy that’s developing the site.

The group also runs a 6,000-square-foot indoor batting cage and training facility nearby at 6024 Old Hemphill Road.

The vacant lot has been a magnet for illegal dumping and is the site of an encampment for people experiencing homelessness, she said.

She said Sluggers would work with nonprofit organizations to provide services to the people who have camped at the site.

The goal is to develop the property into a destination for tournament baseball, said Sluggers owner Ray Ayala.

The closest other venues for tournament baseball are in Burleson, Irving or McKinney, so this will provide a complex closer to Fort Worth, he said.

The complex will also host free camps and clinics for baseball and softball, as well as a college readiness program to prepare participants for higher levels of play, he said.

Efforts to increase youth sports in Fort Worth have focused on soccer facilities. A City Council delegation traveled to Barcelona, Spain, in March to speak with representatives from F.C. Barcelona.

A 2019 study by the Fort Worth Sports Commission found that a 20-field youth soccer facility could bring as many as 100,00 visitors annually and $16 million to Fort Worth.

“We are excited any time we hear of more fields and opportunities for local kids to play sports, ” wrote the commission’s executive director Jason Sands in a statement emailed to the Star-Telegram.

Sands noted the documented link between youth activity and improved academic and health outcomes, and said the commission is committed to working with the city to find more places for Fort Worth kids to play sports.

The City Council will vote on the proposed rezoning at its regular Tuesday meeting at 6 p.m. in City Hall.

If approved, the complex could open in the next 18 to 24 months.

This story was originally published January 6, 2023 1:32 PM.