BEVERLY — Beverly Little League announced yesterday that it will partner with a private group to build indoor batting cages and an indoor artificial turf field on city-owned land near Beverly Airport.

The Little League facility will be part of a larger complex to be called the Beverly Sportsplex and Community Center, which will include three skating rinks, an indoor field and a health club.

The new strategy replaces Beverly Little League's original plan to construct a building at Harry Ball Field, a concept that ran into strong opposition from neighbors.

"We at Little League are very, very excited about this," Beverly Little League official Tom Bussone said. "The chemistry between the two groups worked from day one. We knew we were going to come to a deal."

Beverly Little League will partner with Innovative Sports Group, a group formed by Wenham resident and youth hockey advocate Peter Petri. Petri was the only bidder two years ago when the city advertised for someone willing to build a skating rink on vacant land near the city-owned airport.

Petri's group plans to build an estimated $8 million sports complex that would open in August 2010. He said the partnership with Beverly Little League enhances the concept of a center that serves the entire community.

"We're all out for the same thing, which is the good of kids in the community," Petri said.

The Little League portion of the complex will include an indoor field for baseball, softball or football, four automated batting cages, three batting/pitching "tunnels," a party room, office space and bathrooms.

The 18,000-square-foot facility will be larger than the building that Beverly Little League planned to build at Harry Ball Field, the Little League complex on Essex Street. That will allow for a regulation-sized baseball diamond, Beverly Little League president Greg Deschenes said.

"It's definitely going to be state-of-the-art," Deschenes said.

Bussone and Deschenes declined to say how much money Beverly Little League will invest in the project, with Bussone saying only that the financial terms are "very, very beneficial to Beverly Little League."

The organization would sign a long-term lease to rent the space from Innovative Sports Group. Bussone said any profits generated by the Little League facility will go back to the community in some form, such as scholarships or donations to the Parks and Recreation Department.

Bussone said it was clear from a public meeting in May that neighbors and city officials supported the concept of the indoor batting cages but opposed putting them at Harry Ball Field. He said City Councilors Judith Cronin and Kevin Hobin "pushed us in that direction" toward the airport land.

Officials from Beverly Little League and Innovative Sports Group said their facilities will complement each other. The Little League facility will be in the same building as the rest of the complex. The Little League indoor field will be used for baseball, softball and football, with the capability to also put down a basketball court; the sports complex field will be used for soccer and lacrosse.

Petri said he will soon have more details on the overall plans for the Beverly Sportsplex and Community Center. He said he plans to bring those plans before the city's Planning Board in August to seek approval.

Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or pleighton@salemnews.com.