Improving communities through sport

What Cities Need to Know When Developing a Sports Complex

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Guest post written by Cameron Connelly, Content & Research Coordinator, The Sports Facilities Companies. 

Having a state-of-the-art sports facility that draws crowds from all over the country is something that a great deal of cities dream of bringing to their community. The health and wellness benefits that it will provide the community along with the millions of dollars of economic impact that it will bring in annually are too good to pass up. But the process of building a facility is a long and expensive one, so it is important to do your research and turn over every stone to figure out if it is feasible and how to get it done. There is a lot to consider. Here are a few of the important questions you need to answer before beginning your sports facility journey.

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What Sports Will Be Offered at Your Facility

It would be great to be able to offer your community as many sports as possible but packing too many sports into one venue can have diminishing returns. The amount of interest in a sport and the resources required to offer the sport are the more important factors to consider. Hockey is a fun and popular sport, but with the cost to play being much higher than most other sports it’s not as popular in most communities. Having an ice hockey rink is feasible in some areas, but if there isn’t enough interest in your area, you may be left with an expensive plot of land that is rarely used. Or one that’s difficult to convert it into a usable space. Make sure to get data and feedback from your community to help determine what sports are the most popular and what would be feasible for you to host at your facility.

What is the Budget

Building a new facility is expensive and it can take some time to start to see a return on your investment so it is vitally important to figure out who will be funding the project and how much money can be raised to fund a new sports venue once you have figured out what sports your community wants or needs. Once a budget is in place decisions can be made in terms of the number of fields and the types of amenities you will provide, and the sports venue site.

How to Choose a Contractor

There are numerous factors to consider before starting the sports facility construction process but how you choose a contractor is incredibly important for your final product. The contractor is responsible for converting your dreams and plans into a reality and sometimes choosing the wrong contractor can result in a product that is different than what you had planned for. Ideally you will want to find a contractor that has experience in building sports facilities and has similar values to your own. It is also important to look at their previous work in detail and to choose a contractor that produces work that meets or exceeds your expectations. The facility will be in use for several decades, so it is important to build it right the first time with the right group of people.

If you are confused or overwhelmed with all the decisions that come with planning a sports facility or recreation center and are looking for answers, feel free to contact us or give us a call at (727) 474-3845. We have a team of experts that can help you at any stage in the process, from research and planning to building and managing. Allow us to use our experience and knowledge to make the venue of your dreams into a reality.

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