Another increase in the size of the Prospect Village sports complex, along with upgrades in the architecture and finishes, will make it one of the top three sport complexes in the state, developer Drew Snyder said at a City Hall meeting Thursday, unveiling the updated plan.
Snyder, president of Woodsonia Real Estate in Lincoln, Nebraska, said the footprint for the indoor sports facility has been expanded by about 30,000 square feet in a third revision. The complex started at 95,000 square feet, was later enlarged by a vote of the City Council to 135,000 square feet, and now will be further expanded to 165,000 square feet, Snyder said.
In addition, the developer was asked by city officials to upgrade the building’s finishes.
The plan was expanded, Snyder said, “because we wanted to create a first-class facility. And I think definitively this will be a top-three facility in the state of Missouri.”
He said that the increased size, upgraded finishes and quality “will attract more regional tournaments and generate more economic activity for the Joplin community.”
The City Council and city staff sought the expansion because they wanted a sports complex that they said would be a game changer for Joplin.
“If you’re going to do it, let’s go all the way and let’s do it right,” said Mayor Keenan Cortez. “We want a facility that’s going to accommodate everything that we have planned for it.”
That includes indoor soccer, volleyball, basketball and pickleball, Cortez said.
“So that’s what we are looking at here today — that bigger plan, which I think is fantastic. It looks awesome,” Cortez said.
2,000 people
Project designer Norm Gill, managing partner of Pinnacle Indoor Sports of Louisville, Kentucky, whose firm designs sports facilities across the country and in Canada, said the enlarged design could comfortably hold around 2,000 people.
“We have designed it with plenty of restrooms, plenty of concessions, plenty of exits, all of the things are required, and plenty of room for circulation. That’s one of the big complaints about a lot of these facilities … that they were sized for local use and then when there’s a tournament, everybody is all crammed in there,” Gill said.
Buildings designed for local use are usually sized with the idea in mind that people will come and go.
“When you do tournaments, they come and stay,” until all the games their family members are participating in are completed, Gill said.
The exterior of the building has an Aspen design, with stone facades and what looks like wood but is a material that will provide more durability. It is a similar modern exterior to that of the Joplin Public Library with wood-look sloping roof lines supported by steel framework.
“I think people will be awed by the look of the exterior but what they will really remember is the inside. It’s well thought out. It is large but with lots of interior touches that makes it not look like a big warehouse,” Gill said.
There also will be an outdoor turf field to play soccer, lacrosse and baseball.
“This is a state-of-the-art facility that Joplin can not only be proud of, but a lot of other cities would be very envious of the quality of the project,” Gill said
He said most weekends will need to be booked with tournaments, largely those for out-of-town teams, because of the economic impact.
“But the benefit for the citizens of Joplin is that Sunday night through Thursday the citizens of Joplin can use this state-of-the-art facility that could never be built if it was just relying on the citizens to pay for it,” Gill said.
Promoting use
The Joplin Sports Authority will have to talk about how to promote the new athletic complex.
“We have clients who have expressed their interest in coming to Joplin if a facility like this was built. I know Missouri Christian Schools are real excited about it,” said Shaun Buck, event and operations coordinator for the JSA.
The Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association was hosted by the JSA for three seasons of championship play here.
“They are really excited about the potential. They can have all their basketball and volleyball in one location instead of being spread out” in different towns here, Buck said.
The enlarged size “could be very helpful to the types of events we could possibly bring into town.” There are sports organizations that want to play at facilities that can provide eight to 16 courts under one roof, Buck said. “That would put us back in the ballgame competing with Springfield and Tulsa.
“That will also help us keep our teams here so they don’t have to go out of town, which is another part of our mission — to help citizens have better lives,” he added.
Project details
Though financial information was not available at Thursday night’s meeting, the project most recently had been projected to cost $304 million.
The Woodsonia firm had previously committed $147 million in its own debt and equity toward construction. Other financing tools are derived from taxing districts, including tax increment financing and two community improvement districts that will charge an additional 1-cent sales tax on purchases. The TIF and one of the CID districts have been formed and the second is yet to come, Snyder confirmed Thursday.
At 135,000 square feet, the sports complex was projected to cost $55 million.
After it is paid off, it will be publicly owned because of the tax revenues that will help pay for it.
Woodsonia’s previous costs for the remaining assets were $86 million to build an apartment complex there, a $15 million hotel, retail stores, a park and other amenities that will be part of the development. Snyder previously said he and his company have been in talks to bring a full-service grocery store to the development, which has been a request of a number of Joplin residents.
Russ Alcorn, chairman of the Joplin Finance Committee that reports to the City Council on financial proposals, previously reported that Woodsonia received a good report from a financial and tax advisory firm, Baker Tilly.
Alcorn said in the February report that Woodsonia’s lenders would have conducted extensive research on the project before committing to any loan.
Snyder put several million dollars in contingency for the project.
“This would make it very painful, financially painful, for Woodsonia to withdraw,” Alcorn reported.
Alcorn attended the Thursday meeting and said the observations he gave to council in February remain the same even with the expanded project plan.