Sports Complex Backers Host Community Meeting

Families from around the state flocking to Elk Grove, spending wads of money at local restaurants and hotels. The city becoming known as a destination for athletes and their fans.

That was the vision put forward by supporters of building a tournament-quality sports complex in Elk Grove at a special city council meeting Wednesday.

Organized by local non-profit Elk Grove Community Connection, the event—complete with raffle, buffet reception, and an appearance by a representative of the Sacramento River Cats—was aimed at selling Elk Grove’s sports-loving residents on the idea of the complex and gathering their input on how it should look.

Several city councilmembers, along with EGCC members, have been working for years to bring such a venue to Elk Grove and now hope to incorporate it into the new civic center the city plans to build between Elk Grove Blvd and Whitelock Parkway at the intersection of Big Horn Blvd.

They’re not talking about a stadium or arena—just several well-maintained fields, most likely for softball or soccer, along with a sports pub and maybe some batting cages. But backers say that’s enough to draw visitors in, generating significant revenue for the city.

“In order for us to be a destination city, because youth sports are so important here, we need to get those major three- and four-day tournaments that bring money into the economy,” said EGCC activist Constance Conley.

A local tournament complex would allow parents to stay in Elk Grove and spend their money here, instead of traveling miles outside the city for their kids’ sporting events, said Vice-Mayor James Cooper, an avid sports fan whose daughter plays competitive softball.

Public-Private Partnership?

Should it choose to build the tournament facility, the city has several options: run it itself, lease it to a private firm, or allow the Cosumnes Community Services District, which operates existing Elk Grove parks, to manage it.

Councilmembers seem to be leaning towards contracting with a private company, and several of them have visited parks in the Southern California cities of Santee and Poway run by San Diego-based SportsPlex USA. At Wednesday’s meeting, SportsPlex President Bill Berghoff said those facilities each draw over 300,000 people each year.

 "We are booked through the end of the year and into 2012,” he said.

The cities paid to build the complexes, lease them to SportsPlex—which pays all operating costs—and receive seven percent of the proceeds. The company runs tournaments on weekends and rents the facilities out to local adult and youth leagues during the week.

Other companies offer similar deals.

Berghoff said a SportsPlex park in Elk Grove would generate between $100,000 and $250,000 per year in rent and profit-sharing for the city, and employ about 70 residents.

If it’s similar to the one in Santee, it would likely cost the city $12 to $13 million to build, he said.

Community Concerns

While many of the approximately 60 parents, coaches and league officials at the meeting said they supported the sports complex in principle, some were leery about turning over control to an outside corporation.

One of the more unpopular points: SportsPlex’s facilities charges a $2.50 admission fee to anyone over 16—even during the week.

“To nickel and dime the fans is not going to sit well in Elk Grove,” said Brenda Smart, a swim coach at Laguna Creek High School whose children play baseball and soccer. “I’m not a drop-off mom; I stay and watch. If I had to pay every time, my kids wouldn’t be able to participate.”

Other concerns included whether a privately-run facility that earns money from adult league fees would provide enough practice space for youth teams, and whether it would compete with the CSD, which currently charges for playing time at local parks.

Then there’s the question of which sport to prioritize in a city like Elk Grove, where practically every pastime has its own vociferous lobby. Swimming advocates who turned out in force on Wednesday were pleased to hear that the Civic Center’s 45-acre park site will have enough room for both an indoor pool and the proposed complex.

But that still leaves uncertain whether the complex would have more fields for Elk Grove’s numerous softball and baseball players or for the over 6500 young futbolistas in the Elk Grove Youth Soccer Association.

Competition with Other Cities

Elk Grove’s also not the only Sacramento-area city hoping to build its own field of dreams. Last December, Folsom signed a licensing agreement with Big League Dreams, which operates parks in Redding and Manteca, to develop a baseball and softball complex with scaled-down replicas of major league fields. Roseville is considering building a large soccer facility, said the city’s parks and recreation director, Jeff Dubchansky.

Elk Grove leaders are banking on the city’s easy freeway access and the fact that they already have a site picked out to give it an edge.

“We have the land, we have the infrastructure, and we’re going to beat 'em all to the punch,” said Councilmember Gary Davis.

Davis and the other three city councilmembers at Wednesday’s meeting (Councilmember Patrick Hume was absent) left little doubt about their enthusiasm for the project.

“This is awesome,” said Cooper. “We’re going to leave a legacy for our children.”

City Manager Laura Gill said the tournament complex, if approved, could be built in about two years.  She said the city is also talking to other companies and may ask them to present at future meetings.

In the meantime, Elk Grove residents should have plenty of time to ask questions about the project, including another one raised at the forum: With over 80 parks in Elk Grove, including some with athletic fields that already host regional tournaments, how badly does the city need one more?