Add a soccer pavilion to the growing list of new attractions popping up all over City Park.

Work crews recently broke ground on the $450,000 project that will service four soccer fields sandwiched between the Orleans Avenue Canal and Marconi Drive near Harrison Avenue.

The facility, scheduled to open by year's end, will occupy a portion of a gravel parking lot adjacent to the southernmost field.

Park officials said the pavilion will offer much-needed amenities for the thousands of elementary and high school players, family members and fans who flock to the year-round facility, particularly on weekends.

In addition to a 2,000-square-foot covered patio and a small concession area, the building will include restrooms.

"The big thing is this will be a considerable upgrade from the Port-O-Lets that are out there now,'' said John Hopper, the park's director of development.

"If someone forgets their water or their sports drinks, they'll have some place to buy it. And if parents or grandparents need to get out of the rain or beat the heat, they'll have a nice, covered space to escape to.''

The building will be called the Matt Savoie Soccer Complex in memory of the Isidore Newman School graduate and three-time all-state soccer player who died in a 1999 automobile accident at the age of 19.

With the help of friends, family members and business associates, Savoie's parents, Lori and Bobby Savoie, are leading a drive to raise $500,000 to endow the complex.

Hopper, who estimated that more than half the money has been pledged or raised to date, said the endowment will be dedicated to upkeep of the facility and improvements, including better irrigation for the site.

Plans call for the pavilion to offer beverages and snacks but not hot meals. The covered patio will have picnic tables.

In the near future, Hopper said, park officials will try to work with New Orleans Sports Foundation to lure large soccer tournaments to the city.

He said youth sporting events have become an economic boon for municipalities in recent years. As an example, he noted that about 16,000 athletes from all over the country will be here this weekend for the AAU Junior Olympics, filling restaurants and hotel rooms.

The soccer pavilion continues a recent push by City Park officials to breathe more life into what had become an underused stretch of Marconi Drive greenspace between Harrison Avenue and Interstate 610.

In October, the park will debut the Arbor Room, a $2.3 million reception hall directly behind Popp Fountain, being built with FEMA dollars and money raised by the Friends of City Park.

The 8,000-square-foot facility, which will replace a tent-like structure that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, will provide a second venue for weddings and other large parties, events that are a key source of income for the cash-strapped park.

The Pavilion of the Two Sisters, which was back into operation about a year after Katrina, currently hosts most of the park's money-making events. But clients often must book the room, which opens onto the park's popular Botanical Garden, a year in advance for weekend events.

The Arbor Room will join nearby City Bark, the $650,000 dog park that opened in the spring of 2010; a $3.5 million, 26-court tennis complex that opened in March to the north along Marconi; and the adjacent 1930s-era fountain that was refurbished by volunteers after Katrina.

Frank Donze can be reached at fdonze@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3328.