Scheels Sports Park 'will change how other people see Springfield'

Dirk McCormick admitted that he and his Legacy Pointe Development business partner, Steve Luker, were feeling "a little reinvigorated" at Wednesday's groundbreaking for the future Scheels Sports Park on South MacArthur Boulevard, just north of the Interstate 72 interchange.

But McCormick cautioned that the event was only the end of chapter one.

"We're very excited to be done with chapter one," said McCormick, before the groundbreaking. "There's still a lot of hard work left to go in the project to get to the grand opening. That's when Steve and I really get to celebrate."

McCormick expected the 95-acre multisport outdoor and indoor development located behind the Scheels superstore to host its first tournaments for youth traveling teams in the spring of 2025.

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The sports complex will include synthetic turf multi-purpose fields that can be configured into 14 baseball and softball fields or eight full-size soccer, football, and lacrosse fields.

A 190,000-square-foot indoor dome, considered to be the largest air-supported structure in the world, will house year-round sports, including six basketball courts that can be converted into 12 volleyball courts or 16 pickleball courts, and one of the multi-purpose turf fields.

Local tourism officials have estimated the complex will create about $30 million in new spending annually.

In addition to the tournaments that will be hosted at the sports park on the weekends, local user groups include Springfield District 186, the Springfield Park District, Springfield Area Soccer Association (SASA) and The Hitting Center.

Scheels, which gained naming rights in 2021, is one of project's pinnacle partners, along with Springfield Clinic.

Ryan McCrady, president and chief executive officer of the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, said the project took "a lot of work and a lot of faith" to get to Wednesday.

McCrady has often stood in as a spokesperson for Luker and McCormick and has often fended off naysayers who insisted the project wouldn't come to fruition.

"When you're working on a project like this, you have to be focused on the project and not get caught up too much on the process," McCrady said afterward. "The outcome is what we want. Things like this take so long that the process is going to have to be nimble and adjust as things change. Look how much has changed in our economy in the last three and a half years.

"You can't commit to a process in a vacuum. We've had to make a lot of pivots and a lot of adjustments, but the outcome is what matters and we're here."

The overall cost is estimated to be between $65 and $70 million. The city of Springfield's assistance is coming through a hotel-motel tax incentive, with 2% of the 8% citywide hotel-motel tax being allocated for the complex. There are sales tax and property tax rebates also helping out.

Sports Facilities Companies, based in Clearwater, Florida, will oversee operations at the complex, from upkeep to bringing in events.

Todd Yancey, vice president of venue management, said seven to 14 full-time people will be on staff in Springfield with a part-time season staff of 100.

Speaking earlier in the week, District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill said she was thrilled to see the project get off the ground.

District 186 will get a "preferred rate" on the use of fields and courts for practices and games at the complex, a projected cost of $108,000 for 2,160 hours of use annually.

"It's something we've been working on for some time, and it will give (public high school and middle school teams) some much-needed practice fields and some opportunities for games, especially when there's inclement weather," Gill said.

Mia Volpert, a junior softball pitcher for Springfield High School, echoed the sentiment.

"Baseball and softball have a lot of difficulties with weather and imposes many challenges, but having access to these turf fields is a fantastic opportunity for us," Volpert said at the groundbreaking.

Coming just a day after the nascent Breeze Airways announced direct flights from Springfield to Orlando and Tampa Bay beginning in December, Mayor Misty Buscher said it was shaping up to be "a great, great week for the city of Springfield and the citizens of the community.

"This puts Springfield on the map for sports tourism," Buscher added. "You will have people coming to the community who have never been here and may never have come here."

In remarks before the groundbreaking, McCrady thanked Luker and McCormick for not being afraid "to dream big, take risks, and gather a lot of parties to bring these things together.

"This project will change how Springfield sees Springfield," McCrady added. "It'll change how other people see Springfield. It's a sign we can achieve big things in our community when we work together, between the private sector and the public sector, all local governments, the financial institutions.

"Nobody can say this project was easy. However, I think we can say that it was worth every bit of effort and determination and collaboration and conversation it took to get here."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Scheels Sports Park developers 'reinvigorated' after groundbreaking