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Park facilities can impact
Sports and leisure-time sites have become a By Robert F. Papich The economic impact that city-owned recreational and leisure facilities can bring to a community is often overlooked. Parks, golf courses, museums, water theme parks, ball parks, tennis centers, soccer fields, flower gardens and greenhouses, stadiums, civic centers and ice houses are often viewed only as an expected service provided to the taxpaying public for their recreational and leisured activities. Rockford's experience In recent years, the Rockford Park District has realized that by developing new or by upgrading existing recreational and leisure facilities, it not only can provide benefits to the local population, but it can also impact the local economy by the travel and tourism dollars these facilities generate. In Rockford such facilities include a multipurpose arena, an indoor ice rink, golf courses, a tennis center, race tracks, a water theme park, swimming pools, the Trailside Centre, a softball and soccer complex, boat launch areas, museums, stadiums, campgrounds, a bicycle BMX track, a water ski show area, rose gardens, a greenhouse, etc. Not only can the development of such facilities improve the local quality of life and bring out-of-town dollars to the community, but they also create jobs and enhance a community's image and exposure, at least statewide if not also nationally. Recreation — a big business In Rockford, sports and recreation are a big business. Oftentimes facilities are built to serve the local population first. It is only after these facilities are built and begin to be programmed that the true economic impact on the community is realized. During the past 12 months alone, the Rockford area has hosted the State snow sculpturing competition, the national water ski team competition show, the bicycle BMX national competition, the Men's Garden Club national meeting, a new Continental Basketball Association professional basketball team called The Rockford Lightning, and a Christmas high school basketball tournament for boys and girls. Other events have included an invitational wrestling tournament for high school boys, invitational track meets, golf tournaments, swim meets, ARTCO short track race car competitions, two major music and art festivals, tennis tournaments, youth soccer tournaments, numerous youth and adult softball tournaments, and state, regional and national baseball tournaments . . . just to name a few. The district's facilities and parks were used to help conduct many of these activities. Facility utilization The district, with help from the State, is renovating Marinelli Field for its new minor league men's Class A baseball team, The Rockford Expos. The renovation cost is $1.5 million, and Expos began play in April. Nothing has underscored this big business of sports realization more than the Veterans Memorial Sports Complex (Sportscore), completed in 1983. The structure, located in northwest Rockford, houses eight lighted ball diamonds, eight regulation soccer fields, six boat launch areas, and 1.7 miles of recreational path. It was constructed at a cost of $3 million. Part of the development was a $475,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Conservation (DOC). Since 1983, the Sportscore has hosted nine national softball tournaments, more than 15 State softball tournaments, numerous invitational softball events and nine invitational youth soccer tournaments. It also provides some of the finest facilities anywhere for 300 softball teams and for more than 4,500 soccer players. Illinois Parks and Recreation 6 May/June 1988 Economic impact What does the impact of the Sportscore mean to Rockford's economy? In 1986, a survey was completed, and it indicated that each of the 600 softball teams coming in for tournaments spent an average of $850 each for lodging, food, gasoline and shopping while in the Rockford area. The direct sales of money spent by these teams and their followers is $510,000. Using the 3.5 times dollar roll-over figure, as established by the International Association of Convention/Visitor Bureaus, $1,785,000 becomes the total economic impact amount of the softball tournaments. The soccer tournament team impact is not as great as the softball impact. However, with 120 teams spending $600 per team, an additional $72,000 in spending occurs. When the 3.5 times rollover is applied, the full economic impact totals $252,000. Together, between the soccer and the softball, the total economic impact of the Sportscore is $2,037,000 to the Rockford-area economy. Additional income In addition, the Sportscore complex takes in approximately $230,000 annually in sales. This is in the form of entry fees, concession sales and souvenir sales. Sportscore provides employment for more than 100 full-or part-time workers. It has also put Rockford "on the map" to thousands of people involved in softball and soccer across the United States. New survey The Visitors and Convention Bureau will undertake a new survey this year to continually assess the impact of the Sportscore on the Rockford-area economy and the development of tourism. This survey will, hopefully, compare the percentage of the dollars spent in the Rockford area to the revenues which the Sportscore generates for the total Rockford economy. Spreading the word An excellent working relationship with the local Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce will help get a community's message to prospective groups thinking of using park district facilities. With competition increasing for the tourism dollar, an excellent relationship with the Visitors Bureau will help pay dividends for a park district and have an economic impact on a community.
The Visitors and Convention Bureau of Rockford is a relatively new part of the city. However, its assistance and relationship with the park district has enabled the Sportscore to attract State and national softball and soccer tournaments to its fields. As a result, the combined efforts have produced a positive economic impact on Rockford. Final thoughts The park district's commitment to the sports economy is growing through its four golf courses, its Trailside Centre, its indoor ice rink, the Sportscore complex, the $1.5 million renovation of Marinelli Field, its tennis center and swimming pools, and the new acquisition of Magic Waters (which is a water theme park in the Rockford area). These and other recreation and leisure-time facilities will help promote the Rockford economy and provide jobs for the taxpayers of the Rockford Park District.
The park district's involvement with sports and leisure-time facilities has become big business in Rockford — one that provides excellent facilities for its local citizens, and one which is a part of the economy that the community of Rockford can ill afford to lose.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 7 May/June 1988 |
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