Plans for a sports complex in the former Illinois Centre Mall area were further outlined Sept. 25 by the Marion City Council and developer Rodney Cabaness.
Having moved into the new city hall at 350 Tower Square that very day, Mayor Mike Absher sought to put the spurs to more historic moves with the opening of a sports complex that would cater to traveling youth athletics teams.
The proposed project, which the city hopes to collaborate on with Williamson County, is tied in with the STAR Bonds district, which was approved by the council in a Sept. 12 public hearing. Under STAR Bonds, bonds are issued to promote development, with the bonds being paid off by the future increase in sales tax revenues.
Cabaness presented his plans for the Oasis complex, which would include 16 multi-use fields for baseball, soccer and lacrosse, among other sports. There is also a large championship baseball diamond and an indoor stadium.
The complex is in addition to other developments, such as Oasis Golf and Pickleball and activities that include go-karts, laser tag, a climbing wall and bowling.
Cabaness said youth sports tourism is a growing segment that has outpaced the National Football League in revenues. He estimated that if the complex came online, Marion could see as many 285,000 visitors, 84,075 hotel room nights and $36.3 million in increased spending.
Marion is well-positioned to tap into the youth sports market, having hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues, Cabaness said.
"The interstate brings people right to us." The availability of lodging and dining gives Marion a leg up on other sports complexes he's seen, including one in rural Georgia that was "out in the middle of nowhere."
He said the STAR Bonds district offers "a lifetime opportunity" to get the development off the ground.
Absher said he had run has own numbers and was most concerned about the return on the investment. "When do we get our money back?"
He said it was important to invest in the property and keep it maintained, which includes the replacement of all artificial turf every 12 years. He noted that youth sports teams prefer artificial turf over grass.
Absher noted that with the increase in families and teams visiting and booking rooms, the hotel tax could come into play to help fund the sports complex.
"It could be a virtuous economic system that could be self-feeding," Absher said.
In comments from commissioners, Doug Patton questioned whether the city would be able to project the costs in labor for turf replacement after 12 years or even 25 years.
Absher said that in 25 years, youth sports tourism might not even be a thing, and if after that time the complex doesn't pan out it would be up to future city leaders to determine whether to get out of it.
"It's very difficult to determine what the world is going to be like 25 years from now," he said.
Patton and Commissioner John Stoecklin also spoke of their personal experience with traveling youth sports, and said they agreed Marion had potential to draw teams from surrounding major metropolitan areas.
Absher has sought support for the sports complex from the Williamson County Board of Commissioners.
'We have agreed to work with the city after listening to Rodney," Commissioner Jim Marlo told the council. However, he added the county still had a lot of questions.
With the momentum of the STAR Bonds approval behind him, Absher, while not calling for a vote on the complex on Monday, urged for a special joint meeting of the city council and county board, to take place as early as this week.
In earlier business, the council in a 5-0 vote affirmed the denial of a special use permit for a bakery operation in the 1000 block of Kimberly Court, a residential zone. No comments from the public were offered.
And the purchase of two new three-quarter ton pickups from Absher Arnold Motors for $47,211 each was approved, with Absher abstaining in the 4-0-1 vote.
