Westfield is not alone in its dream of becoming a haven for youth and community sports.

Several Indianapolis-area communities, including Lawrence, Plainfield and Brownsburg, have considered adding or expanding recreational facilities this year.

Some have succeeded and some have failed, but careful planning seems to be the watchword.

As Westfield continues to hammer out the details of its complex, it seems the city must carefully monitor funding, demand and population growth to create a successful sports complex.

The city of Lawrence, which has been developing its sports complex at Lawrence Community Park for three decades, thinks its success hinged on expanding gradually and meeting residents’ needs.

The federal government gave Lawrence land for the 100-acre complex in the early 1970s, and the city has added and taken away fields and courts as trends in sports and population changed, Mayor Paul Ricketts said.

Ricketts encouraged Westfield to do the same.

“To make it successful, you have to give them (people) what they want and have the latitude and ability to change,” Ricketts said.

At 300 acres, the size of Westfield’s complex already sets it apart from other communities’ proposals, but the city likely would complete the complex in phases.

The Sports Complex Commission’s preliminary drawing includes 56 outdoor fields and courts, a space for an outdoor stadium and an indoor facility with an undetermined number of fields and courts.

As drawn, the indoor facility would be about 252,000 square feet, which is about one-fourth the size of the former RCA Dome.

The complex and its facilities could be scaled down as the city gathers more information.

The Sports Complex Commission still is trying to assess the need for so many fields and courts and for championship-level facilities. That likely will be the focus of the group’s Oct. 21 meeting.

The Scope of Sports Subcommittee has interviewed several sports programs to learn more about demand, said William Knox, chairman of the subcommittee.

“Our goal is to determine the estimated utilization rate of the facility by our local programs and travel tournaments and then identify other users to fill in our gaps,” Knox said in a statement that Westfield spokeswoman Carrie Cason sent The Star.

Westfield requires that all questions regarding the sports complex be submitted to Cason in writing.

The Sports Complex Commission also is deciding other aspects of the complex, including its location, how much it will cost and who will operate it.

Funding has proved to be a challenge for some sports facilities because of new property tax caps and the economy.

Brownsburg, which is closing its community center at the end of the year, does not have the money to build a new indoor recreational facility.

The town will use the next few years to secure funding and plan a new facility, Parks Director Philip Parnin said.

A $22.5 million youth soccer complex proposed for Lawrence failed in 2005 because the developers couldn’t get funding.

But Ricketts still thinks sports complexes are a good investment because they bring out-of-town sports enthusiasts and extra money for local businesses.

“If you have the money to put up what everyone wants, do it,” Ricketts said. “{$326} I think it’s a great idea because everybody’s trying to be healthier.”