Last week, the TFP’s Tori McElhaney reported the 14-and-under national softball tournament at The Summit of Softball in Ooltewah generated more than $2 million in local economic impact.
Here’s a belief that the $2 million was likely a little low, considering more than 120 teams were in Chattanooga for the tournament.
This is close to the economic impact of the much-ballyhooed outdoor ventures Chattanooga brags about incessantly.
Certainly, triathlon events downtown and Head of the Hooch bring a level of urban coolness and – more importantly – are annual gatherings that contribute a sizable line item to our tourism and Convention and Visitors Bureau portfolio.
If you think venues, such as the Summit and other youth sports complexes, are not in a serious arms race in today’s money-hungry, tourism-collecting, look-at-us climate, well, there’s some riverfront property in Hixson you may be interested in.
First, kudos to the folks who built the Summit and put about $12 million into a complex that was finished in 2009 and is closing in on twice that return to the community.
Second, there have been increasingly loud whispers about ways to pay for a potential expansion of the youth sports complex at Camp Jordan in East Ridge.
East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert issued a statement to media members late last month arguing the value and potential of Camp Jordan.
There is potential; the staff there is excellent, the grounds spacious and the locale ideal.
There is value; there are potential tax incentives and contributions to help support the construction and there certainly is a need.
With those whispers, there needs to be direction.
Specific direction.
Lambert’s statement covered regional events and a number of fields and venues.
Nope.
The Summit was cutting edge at one time – and that time now seems dated – but the idea is spot-on.
Look south to LakePoint off Exit 293 on Interstate 75 in Emerson, Ga. It’s a youth baseball heaven.
Whatever the plan is for a mega-plex youth sports complex in or around Chattanooga, it needs one direction. No, this is not about leadership.
It’s about focus.
What did I learn from the small-minded construction of McKenzie Arena?
What did I learn from the small-time efforts to host Spring Fling?
Small scale equals small long-term benefits.
In the time since the Summit was built less than a decade ago, complexes across the South and the country have completely changed the game.
LakePoint has become the most impressive baseball venue this side of SunTrust Park in the South, and it’s less than 60 miles from East Ridge.
If Camp Jordan is going to have multiple sport tournament offerings, what happens if the tournaments overlap, even regionally? LakePoint has hotels on site, as well as sports bars, a zip line, water park, you name it.
For this to be something the community should support – and if the powers that be are willing to support it, the community definitely should support it – then pick a horse and ride.
And that horse is coming up with a destination not unlike LakePoint but with a complex full of multi-use fields (with state-of-the-art artificial turf on a good deal from our good friends in North Georgia) that is designed to be the go-to location for soccer and lacrosse across the state.
Don’t mess with baseball, beyond local tournaments. Don’t mess with a track facility, unless you are going to try to serve multiple political masters, and once politics gets into this, you are already serving too many bosses. Don’t let any inkling of a notion that Camp Jordan will host a high school football game dilute the conversation.
Those are non-starters.
The right idea is Camp Jordan – or wherever it may be around Chattanooga – as the youth soccer and lacrosse LakePoint.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.