User:Krosss55/sandbox

 ELGIN SPORTS COMPLEX

Description and History

In 1981, the property was designated as a park. Now it’s a Sports Complex known as the Elgin Sports Complex which is a huge sports facility outdoors that hosts multiple sporting events and is based in Elgin, Illinois. It's a 191-acre complex and is the home for softball and soccer recreational leagues and many tournaments as well as the Elgin Heat softball team. There are ten lighted softball/baseball fields, ten full sized soccer fields which four our lit, two sand volleyball courts, and the Highlands of Elgin Golf Course. They are also the home of the Hill BMX racing track, which is Chicago area’s premier BMX track, and one of the only two that are located in Northern Illinois. Some open space is open for different sports practices and sand volleyball is also a part of the mix. There are paved bike trails provided which access to the main grounds from McLean Boulevard, route 31. This complex includes concessions, restrooms, playground, maintenance buildings and public shelters as well. The complex also has one big lot for parking and multiple other spots around the complex to park by each of the fields locations.

Elgin bought the 408 acres that would hold the Sports Complex from the state for $610,000 in 1980. That land also had been part of the Elgin Mental Health Center campus. The first softball fields opened in 1986, and the Sports Complex eventually came to include 10 softball fields, 10 soccer fields, a BMX track, two sand volleyball courts, a small playground, a sludge lagoon, and buildings for maintenance and storage. The Highlands of Elgin is part of the site, too.

Events Held at Complex

Elgin Sports Complex is the home for many softball and baseball recreation leagues, soccer leagues, and the Elgin Heat softball teams which is a travel softball team. They designate the Sports Complex as their home fields for practicing and host multiple tournaments throughout the fall and summer as well as having games throughout the weeks against other travel teams. There has also been wedding venues hosted at the complex. They hosted a Ring Around Elgin even in February to engage couples to explore different wedding venues around the city on the game day. They are planning to do an autumn wedding walk next month. They can grow awareness of Elgin as a wedding destination.

Issues

The fields that are available for sports aren’t the required tournament size and don’t have turf or proper lighting. The soccer fields aren’t the correct size and are in the process of getting fixed for the spring season coming up. The softball and baseball field sizes are a little bit too short which is why they aren’t able to accommodate college teams. Some High School teams don’t mind, but others won’t come because of the size of the field. Renovations and maintenance are needed when making decisions on the Elgin fields since they are natural grass instead of turf. Turf fields are the next step along with making the fields bigger in size. Availability at the Sports Complex is also an issue because tournaments fill up with repeat tournaments every year so they don’t have the ability to book more.

The Sports Complex is over 30 years old and it’s very outdated. Elgin is having to compete with other complex’s and communities. People are looking for places to book events and Elgin isn’t even in the running. A public-private partnership has been an idea to help renovate the complex because they are missing out on hosting events. They are in need of these new renovations in the next few years.

Renovations

The city of Elgin had allocated $80,000 in their 2016 budget to conduct the design study for the property. The city’s involvement with the property was part of the saga that began in the summer of 2004 when John B. Sanfilippo and Son Inc. announced it would consolidate operations from three other communities and build a $50 million corporate headquarters and warehouse until they opted out. A $9.5 million incentive package was supposed to help redevelop the property. The city had purchased the land from the state in mid-2004 with $4 million put up by Sanflippo. He tried to sell the property himself for $10 million but in 2013, Elgin bought the site from the company for $8 million. The money came from a deal with Elgin Community College right across the street from the complex.

The Elgin Sports Complex is in the making of a $30 million expansion which could help the city break into a profitable market of sporting events and tournaments. There is a proposal out for an expansion of the complex and the estimates have come out to be around $30 million but it could be more. They aren’t where they need to be with money wise, but are finding ways to take that next step and also trying to take over the 90 acres of land the city owns on the north side of the Elgin Mental Health Center campus to integrate into the Elgin Sports Complex just west of the property. The complex is being creative and finding ways to get different sporting events booked into Elgin’s different venues, like a local Cross Fit gym tournament, but there are more facilities needed to attract larger events. They recently had to turn down a handball tournament because there weren’t any venues for it. Renovations will begin on including a multisport facility, fields with artificial turf, and fields set aside for other sports like football, lacrosse, and rugby.

References http://www.cityofelgin.org/DocumentCenter/View/1743/Sports-Complex-Map?bidId= /ref> http://www.cityofelgin.org/309/Elgin-Sports-Complex /ref> http://www.cityofelgin.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Elgin-Sports-Complex-19/ref>