Louisville City looks to the future, announces stadium site and renderings

The future of soccer in Louisville took a major step forward on Wednesday, when the owners of Louisville City FC announced that they had decided to build a new soccer-specific stadium in the eastern neighborhood of Butchertown. The club announced that they held land options for a forty-acre lot that would hold a 10,000 seat stadium, with the ability to expand to 20,000 seats if needed.

The location is adjacent to downtown, and is within walking distance of Waterfront Park, a major local attraction, as well as numerous bars and restaurants that have been built in the up-and-coming neighborhood. The location, per the owners, fell in line with their desire to have the stadium built in an area that was "popular with millennials" and was highly visible, with it being near a major interstate junction.

Louisville City has retained HOK to design the new stadium. HOK designed Avaya Stadium in San Jose, as well as the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and their work speaks for itself. The renderings released on Wednesday are quite impressive, and the fan base is very excited to see the vision become a reality.

With the club playing their 2017 home matches at Louisville Slugger Field for the third season, it is vital that the club move into a stadium of their own to sustain their success and become profitable. Now that a site has been determined for the new stadium, the biggest step of all remains - getting the funding. At their press conference on Wednesday, the club ownership discussed the fact that they will look to provide a large amount of funding from the private sector, but they will need help from the city and state to purchase the land and address any environmental and cleanup issues at hand.

A lot of work still needs to be done before the first construction will begin on the new stadium, but this is a major step that some were not sure would ever happen when the club launched three years ago. It is a testament to how well the team has performed, and how large the support has been within the Louisville community. While it is not set to be built and ready for play until the 2020 season, it gives the Louisville City fans plenty of reason to be excited for the future.

Check out the other renderings in the club’s official release, here.