Travel Lane County is calling for the construction of a new indoor sports facility, saying it could increase winter tourism in the region.
Some proposed features of the multi-use facility are an indoor track, and basketball, pickleball and volleyball courts. Andy Vobora, the Vice President of Stakeholder Relations at Travel Lane County, said the building could also be used for conventions or concerts.
Vobora said the hope is to attract sports teams and fans from other cities, to combat the current drop in patrons that Lane County hotels face each winter.
“One of the things with youth sports in particular that we've seen in recent years is it's somewhat recession proof and even COVID-proof," he said. "Parents who want to see their kids involved in athletics go to great lengths.”
Vobora said even with existing indoor athletics spaces at the University of Oregon, the YMCA and KidSports, there are still not enough courts to meet the demand for events.
Price and Location
Vobora said one possible site for the facility would be the Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene. But he said that timeline is uncertain, since the development of the Lane Event Center's Master Plan is still ongoing.
A previous attempt to build a multi-use baseball stadium at the fairgrounds faced pushback, with the Lane County Fair Board publicly opposing the project.
Vobora said another potential site is the former Royal Caribbean Cruises call center in Springfield. It's a 160,000 square-foot building that went up for sale earlier this year, according to Eugene Weekly.
Vobora said it may be possible to re-use the existing building, potentially making the project cheaper. He said Travel Lane County is currently paying to evaluate whether that would be possible, and expects to know more in the coming months.
"As far as when a facility could be built, it's still going to be several years off," said Vobora. "But you got to take the first step."
To help fund the project, Travel Lane County wants to help establish a public-private partnership, with state, county and business support.
As part of that effort, Vobora said the organization plans to ask the county to allocate revenue from its transient lodging tax. At a meeting last week, several County Commissioners expressed interest in that idea.
"The adaptive re-use site, from a perspective in a real-estate mind, is an exceptional opportunity," said Commissioner David Loveall. "If I can just say so myself, the 20 acre site and the building—if we can adapt it the way that we're thinking, we could save at least half what it would cost to build a facility from scratch."
A previous estimate put the cost of building the facility from scratch at around $80 million. Vobora said with rising prices and tariffs, that number could end up higher.
