Indoor sports complex project is still a go for Tazewell
Aug. 19—TAZEWELL, Va. — The town of Tazewell is moving forward with plans for a large-scale indoor sports complex for the region.
The Tazewell Town Council held a special-called work session Tuesday to discuss the multi-million dollar project. Representatives with Eastern Sports Management, the company that will operate and manage the sports complex, were in attendance.
At that meeting the town council provided direction to proceed with the project, Tazewell Town Manager Todd Day said.
Day said the town has been working on the indoor sports complex concept for about six years, and is now hoping to break ground on the project within the next two years.
"The sports complex will have approximately 95,000 square feet of indoor surface," Day said. "It will have eight basketball (courts) full-size. It will have markings for 24 pickleball courts. It will have 16 volleyball courts and it will also have a sanctioned indoor track."
Day said the closest sanctioned indoor track facility for the region is located at Liberty University, which is more than three hours away.
"The facility will have the capability of an arena for gun shows, knife shows, boat shows, cheerleading competitions," he said. "The possibilities are endless."
Day said the sports complex is an industry that will be operated and managed by the private sector. It can serve Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee.
"I've got letters from 13 different school districts, and those letters say if you build it we will use it. That's just the school districts. But this is going to be not just for the town of Tazewell. This will be a regional destination for Tennessee and West Virginia. So what we are looking at is to bring tourism in not just from across the Commonwealth, but also West Virginia and all around. Keep in mind that it will be run by the private sector, so it's not like the gymnasium we have here in Tazewell. This will be run by the private industry, so they will paying taxes on it. So the people who come in will just add to our economy."
Restaurants, stores and convenience stations in Tazewell will benefit from the visitors to the sports complex, as will hotels and motels in neighboring Mercer County, Day said.
"So I gave this analogy a couple of weeks ago to some people," Day said. "We are blessed to have on Main Street a number of restaurants. Everyday or every evening you could imagine a school bus load of people being dropped off and being told — you all go and get something to eat, and we will see you in the next couple of hours. That would blow the door off our restaurants. So it's actually a destination. This is a super indoor sports complex. It's an industry."
Day said the sports tourism industry is a perfect fit for Tazewell.
"This is an economy that we feel real confident about," he said. "The company, Eastern Sports Management, has agreed to make a debt service payment that is in our portfolio of up to $5.5 million dollars."
Grant funding also will be sought for the project.
"Eastern Sports Management has agreed to guarantee that debt service payment," Day said. "So that's big. There is no local tax dollars going into this. They are going to run this. They will take a portion of the capital that comes out of it."
During Tuesday's work session, the town council stated that its goal or direction was to begin construction on the indoor sports complex in two years or less, according to Day.
Day said the indoor sports complex is planned near the town's entrance at the former Ramey and McCann site.
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com. Follow him @BDTOwens
