In a nearly packed Leitchfield City Council meeting on Monday night, there were passionate pleas from elected officials, local business owners, citizens, and tennis players regarding a resolution on whether to go forward with an indoor sportsplex/recreation center, now referred to as a health and wellness center, in Leitchfield.
After initial positive feedback from the public, the city hired Pinnacle Sports to perform a feasibility study on the marketability, costs and revenues associated with such a project.
Pinnacle Sports has worked on similar projects in Madisonville, Hopkinsville and Paducah Tourism on its convention center.
Pinnacle Sports, represented by Jarrod Carnes and Todd Brockman, provided the city council with an overview of its market feasibility student, the facility’s financial model and market findings.
“The market feasibility study,” according to Pinnacle Sports, “showed that there are six factors that indicate that there is demand and opportunity for a new indoor sports facility”:
- It enhances the overall quality of life
- It provides a hub for varied sports, recreation and wellness programing
- It can double as an event center space for events, trade shows, health classes, and non-sports related activities
- It can operate year round
- It can possibly stimulate ancillary development such as restaurants, hotels and retail establishments
- Land is available for the proposed project
Pinnacle Sports recommended the development be comprised of a 50,000-square-foot indoor facility that contains two basketball courts, three volleyball courts (which can be used for other sports as well), an 180-foot-by-80-foot synthetic turf field for indoor soccer (that can be transformed into a space for batting cages), and an indoor walking track.
The facility, Pinnacle Sports recommends, would also have food and beverage and seating areas, along with classrooms and meeting rooms.
Financial model
Pinnacle provided a four-year financial forecasting model that showed the following costs and revenue projections:
- Total project revenue from $10,000 in year one to $750,000 in year four.
- Cost of goods sold will rise proportionately with revenue: Nearly $27,000 in year one to $229,000 in year four
- Operating expenses of $258,000 in year one to $426,000 in year four
- Net operating results: Year one a loss of $275,000; year two a loss of $171,000; year three a surplus of $10,000; and year four a surplus of $96,000
The building, including parking space, is projected to cost $9 million. The equipment installed in the building will cost $1 million, according to Pinnacle Sports representatives.
The company recommended the facility employ three full-time employees, with the number of part-time employees dependent on revenue generation.
Reaction
Following the presentation, Leitchfield business owner Greg Bernard, an avid tennis player and self-proclaimed “tennis parent,” voiced concern with the feasibility study not recommending incorporating tennis courts into the health and wellness center.
“We have not asked for a dedicated tennis facility, we have asked to be included in a multi-sport facility,” Bernard told the council.
Bernard, though, emphasized that the tennis community strongly supports a health and wellness center, and that, “If broad appeal to a wide range of ages is a part of this facility’s mission, indoor tennis can and should be a part of this project.”
Pinnacle Sports responded that tennis wasn’t a “no,” but was instead recommended for inclusion in a “future phase” of the facility.
Mayor Harold Miller said, in relation to tennis courts, that the council can look at “different layouts, different configurations” of the facility. Pinnacle said they can reconfigure the current courts to include tennis. The flooring wouldn’t be tennis-specific, but rather multi-purpose flooring.
In addition to Bernard, multiple people spoke in favor of constructing the facility, including state Sen. Steve Meredith, R-Leitchfield, who pleaded passionately with the council, urging them not to, as previous councils have over several decades, pass on an opportunity to improve the lives, prospects and futures of local citizens.
The vote
Miller said about a health and wellness center in general, “I think it’s a great idea. I want to see it happen.” But concerns about shouldering the financial load of the $10 million project were also on Miller’s mind.
As a result, there will be talks with the Grayson County Healthcare Foundation (which pledged money but the amount of the donation at this point is unknown) and the Leitchfield Tourism Commission (which has budgeted for such a project for the last two years, Commission Chair Ryan Bratcher told the council) about contributing to the financing of the project, as talks with other entities, including Grayson County government, will also take place.
Councilman Tim Bocock, who spoke from prepared notes in support of the facility, noting the project is an investment in the city’s future and desperately needed in the community, made a motion for a resolution.
“I move that we resolve that we move to pursue the building of a health and wellness center in the city of Leitchfield,” Bocock said.
The motion passed 6-0.
The council, a few minutes after the initial vote, voted to make the resolution a “formal resolution” that can be signed by the mayor.
During a lengthy discussion regarding the financing of the facility, it was learned that Meredith intends to pursue state funding for the project via the General Assembly.
“I can’t promise you any appropriation from the state but I’m going to do my very best,” Meredith said.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
