The city council just approved funding for the Legacy Pointe Sports Complex. Here's how it was pitched vs. the actual plans.
imgur.com/a/jESAQGr
imgur.comPosted Apr 20, 2023, 6:36 PM UTC
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imgur.comSo is the multi-tiered indoor athletic facility with the attached hotel and scenic reflecting pool just a big pole barn?
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Nope an AIR STRUCTURE.....
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But won’t this impede the beautiful outlet mall we’ve been promised every year since 2011???
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Well, that appears to be a slight difference.
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This city has no vision & what Vision they have always revolves around delusions of grandeur. Meanwhile, they have poured tens of millions into the Capitol Airport complex but can’t even keep United flying here from Chicago! Nor can they find people to stay in that eyesore of a Wyndham boondoggle.
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But we are an amazing destination for tourist because we have Lincoln and…Lincoln!
Also, it’s a great place to live due to out amazing employers the state and…the state!
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Springfield is not a tourist destination. It is not a desirable place to visit, and I wish the town leaders would just recognize this fact and ask the question, "why?", then address the answers.
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Agreed, but the city just likes to walk around blind to that and lean on their crutches (Lincoln and the State) to the end.
I'm a huge proponent of redevelopment of downtown as I think that could be a huge draw for tourism. As it sits right now it's a disjointed mess with major thoroughfares running through it. With the rail consolidation, its a perfect opportunity for the city to redevelop the old line as a multiuse trail, rethink the traffic downtown (reduce traffic and increase outdoor seating, pedestrian paths, etc), and position the YWCA property to something of value.
What will happen is the same stagnant do nothingness and the city wondering what's the issue.
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I agree, but also I don't. It's certainly not Disneyland, that's for sure. But, as boring as he seems to us, Lincoln is as big as Elvis in some circles. I distinctly remember an incident a few years ago where I was taking some pictures around the capitol building to test out a new camera, and this couple approached me, asking for restaurant recommendations. They had traveled directly from Ireland to Springfield because they were obsessed with Lincoln and wanted to walk where he walked, and see what he saw. They knew more about him - and even the history of this county - than I did. And what really broke my brain is that this was their 3rd time coming here. Can you imagine?
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That's an odd take. I'm in the hospitality industry downtown and we thrive off of our tourism industry. 2022 was a huge rebound. 2023 is already ahead of trends and we've only finished Q1.
Can we do better? Absolutely. But to say Springfield is not a desirable place to visit just isn't true.
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Don't confuse people visiting Spfld with Spfld being a desirable place to visit.
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Hey, don't steal Taylorville's slogan: "A great place to live."
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I hope they approve some funding to fix up peoria road one of these days.
Looked like someone fuckin’ bombed it last time I was in town.
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It's truly bad but I think it's technically a state highway, not Springfield's responsibility.
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100% true.
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As is friggin MacArthur south of South Grand.
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Never mind the community has basically gradually crumbled under "nothing to do"-ness for years, just add more soccer and baseball fields of which there's a million of them.
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Actually, there are a million baseball fields but there is no full size (adult), lit, publicly available soccer field in town. All the current public ones are undersized, in crappy shape, no lights, etc.
But I agree with the sentiment- don't worry about actually figuring anything about just throw more fields at the situation.
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Ahh, an abundance of flat land...what can we do with this? lol
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Agreed, it’s underwhelming. I don’t know that the man made pond and elaborate water feature is viable in that area next to fields, coupled with the cost to maintain, and assuming the insurance policy of having a pond at a facility catering to children and teens.
A hotel is a stretch.. I’m assuming the existing hotel on the same property was incentivized to build with a non compete radius.
Would be interesting to see the first proposal and what all was included in the pitch to the city
My concern is what happens to the bike trail? It looks erased..
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I believe that’s the same hotel that’s already there. I agree the pond and everything connecting to the hotel is a little far fetch.
However, having a solid structure, actual amount of proposed fields, some recognition of the tennis courts, and landscaping remotely similar would have been great. It’s like they literally took the city for a ride by presenting a Lamborghini, asking them for more money, and then proposing a used Honda Civic with a odd tire.
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When the city proposed giving this new complex a 10 year tax break i was already incredibly skeptical, but now it turns out they are going to give the complex a 23 year tax break plus let them keep hotel AND sales tax revenue for "maintenance costs." We can't afford to beautify the inner city of springfield but we can certainly afford to copay for a massive sports complex while collecting no taxes from it. 🤔
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"concerns appear to be more than offset by optimism "
Yep, that sounds about right.
When so many other cities are using their tax base to establish high quality jobs, stable economic development, Springfield decides to go all in on a youth sports complex that will offer nothing but low paying service jobs to the community.
Not only that, reading the article, it reminds me of a family making a large purchase they cannot afford, but they have convinced themselves it is a great idea. "let's put a little on card one, a little more on this card ..what's the balance on card 3? What if I agree to work overtime for the next 10 years, and I use that money to help fund this?"
It's got "bad idea" and ill conceived written all over it.
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"It is desirable that the line from home base through the pitchers plate to second base shall run East-Northeast."
So those are southwest and northwest facing baseball/softball diamonds?
https://tht.fangraphs.com/lost-in-the-sun-the-physics-of-ballpark-orientation/
The two big soccer fields look to be 120 by 70 which is super nice.
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We are so fucking pathetic. I can’t even justify calling this a good place to live anymore. Our city leaders are a mess. At least it’s sorta cheap to live here for now.
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So many baseball fields. Can’t y’all get a rock climbing gym here? There’s so many other things that could be built instead of this.
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Business / politics as usual. Follow the money
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Looks pretty good to me.
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This is truly bonkers. The city was sold this grandiose sports complex and when the company came back they not only raised the cost, but lowered the quality. The facility has an air structure which is a great idea considering the weather, both severe and winter, that central IL faces.
Not only that, "The sales and hotel-motel taxes also will go into a fund that also will cover up to $11.5 million out of $23 million in maintenance costs at the site. Maintenance is separate from the construction costs."
And, "In addition, Springfield city government, as well as Sangamon County government, Springfield School District 186 and all other taxing entities have agreed to not collect additional property taxes associated with the construction for the life of the 23-year agreement."
I was originally excited about this project and thought it would be a great addition to Springfield. Now it's an ill conceived money pit that the city gladly handed money over to for decades.
Quotes are from this article, https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfield/field-of-dreams/Content?oid=16731246&fbclid=IwAR0VFg0KArFfuuxkBC1F0JYADNFIOCZPmY0t8Qesaf4VsLHZrGOcyHFi0Qo
I don't get why this was green lighted but the Wyndham was not.
Because Springfield.
This project increases revenues and add economic vitality. The Wyndham project, in current form, is a bailout.
Is that seriously a baseball diamond, two softball diamonds and a soccer field sharing the same space? To what end? Are they gonna have to manually move fences every time? Are there just no fences period? Are the city and company so far behind reality that they haven't heard that multipurpose sport surfaces have been out of style for years after proving themselves to be utterly inadequate for all of the individual "purposes" they were designed for? Aside from the A's who are about to move, not a single professional baseball team plays in a multipurpose stadium anymore?
What the absolute blue hell is this?
This was touted as a sports tourism destination with regional tournaments being held there weekly. Do you really think this would be a destination for those? It's a sorry shell of what was proposed and, I believe, the company wanted to bail due to increased costs. However, the account executive found a gullible city who took the bait and switch.
If you look at the original proposal (linked below) it's a destination with multiple fields, activities, and a cohesive operation.
https://www.thriveinspi.org/resources/eadb9f92-519e-4601-a56c-fb95ef385e5f/legacy%20sports%20complex%20info.pdf?trackid=legacy%20sports%20complex%20info.pdf
Anyone gullible enough to believe that that artist rendering was what the board was promised is a moron. Sorry, but come on... A local school board asks for formal blueprints when considering even the smallest of construction projects, before greenlighting the budget and breaking ground.
They absolutely had blueprints, maintenance figures, construction costs, etc before they approved of this project. You're going to tell me that you ACTUALLY believed that Springfield IL was going to have a pseudo Billagio fountain display at a multipurpose sporting facility?
This will actually bring in revenue to the City of Springfield. Do you know how much money travelling families spend on sports tournaments for their kids? They may not see property taxes for 23 years or whatever, but that's pennies compared to the millions of dollars of increased revenue for local restaurants, shopping, etc.
In another comment I explain that I didn’t not believe that the pond or fountains would exist nor the structure that is attached to the existing hotel. But in the initial pamphlet they had a greater number of fields both inside and out. Plus what kind of bonkers idea is an air structure for a 23 year agreement with the city covering half of the operating cost.
Also, this doesn’t look like a “sport tourism destination”. It looks like the YMCA decided to open new baseball fields out at their Kerasotes property. However, even then the Y is a solid structure.