By Chris Wilson

During March meetings, Newberry city commissioners are being asked to vote for or against a proposed Regional archery facility. The decision comes on the heels of a month of informational workshops, during which city officials learned about some of the benefits that the archery center and other sports-related destinations, including baseball and softball facilities, could provide for the city’s economy.

While an exact date for a vote had not been set by our press time, Newberry mayor John Glanzer says the commissioners will vote on the archery facility on either the second Monday (March 10) or fourth Monday (March 24) of the month. “Like everything else, it will just come down to whether we have the money to do it,” the mayor explains.

As a city, Newberry views the sports or recreational tourism as an opportunity to bring “clean” business into the area, as opposed to having more industrial businesses moving into the area. The city would have the opportunity to develop the new archery center, a top-notch cross country running course and a recreation center to go along with the already-existing Diamond Sports Park baseball and softball facilities and horse training centers.

The Archery Center
During February workshops, the city commissioners heard presentations by representatives of the Easton Sports Development Foundation (ESDF), the National Alliance for the Development of Archery (NADA) and the city’s parks and recreation director Richard Blalock.

The ESDF is trying to build archery as a sport in the United States through the construction of eight regional archery centers, including the one that has been proposed for Newberry. “The beauty of Newberry is that our facility can offer outdoor training all year around,” says Eric Watts of the ESDF. The Newberry site would be the regional center for the southeast and Watts says it’s a desirable location because of its proximity to the Atlanta and Miami airports.

According to Watts, a similar facility exists in Yankton, South Dakota, where three tournaments put nearly $3-million into the local economy over a two-year period.

The proposed site is the current sports complex on S.R. 45, just north of Newberry Rd.
What has been proposed is an archery training facility and a community recreation center, that would be shared by the Newberry recreation department, the NADA and the ESDF archery coach. The recreation center would feature two indoor areas, including one for archery and another that has multiple uses (basketball, volleyball, exercise classes, etc.). There also has been talk of developing a championship-caliber cross country track around the property. There also would be outdoor archery ranges and a wooded area for archery.

The ESDF has committed $1.5 million towards the construction of the facility. Newberry city manager Keith Ashby expects that the city’s committment would have to be in the neighborhood of $1.1-million, which would include the civil site preparation and construction of the various features of the facility. Ashby also says several financing options will be available to the city, including two grants that the city has applied for and should have a decision on by April. After 20 years, the ESDF would deed its portion of the facility to the city of Newberry, as long as the facility was to be maintained as an archery center.

The center would be constructed in such a way that adding another gymnasium, more offices or classrooms and a store or concession area would be possible if that demand were to arise.

“I believe this is a catalyst for the city,” says Ashby. “I don’t see this as being anything but positive.”

In addition, Blalock says the city would have some help staffing the center, with NADA to provide support staff to run the archery programs and to help with some city-run programs. According to Blalock, the city would have the ability to provide recreational, after-school and summer programs for youth, including basketball, volleyball, cheerleading, cross country and archery and programs for senior citizens.

“In the current economic situation, the parks and recreation department needs these partnerships to survive,” says Blalock.

Once constructed, the archery facility would be used to host regional tournaments for all ages that would bring athletes and their families from other areas of the country. In addition, the cross country track would be used to host high school meets, including some District, Regional or State races that would attract runners from throughout the state. The archery facility also would be used by the NADA to train archery coaches. None of the facilities would have living quarters for athletes or coaches.

Fields of Dreams?
To further the point that sports tourism can have a positive impact upon an area’s economy, the city hosted a workshop featuring guest speak Lou Presutti, who founded Cooperstown Dream Park in New York.

The city of Cooperstown is small (population about 2,000), but receives almost 400,000 visitors every summer to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The Cooperstown Dream Park has become another area desitnation for youth baseball players throughout the country. The park hosts more than 1,100 teams per year, including more than 18,000 players and coaches. Presutti says the players’ and coaches’ families add even more to the number of visitors that come to the area.

“It brings approximately $95-million to the community over the course of 12 weeks,” says Presutti. “All of the people who come eventually leave and they leave their money.”

Presutti says what has happened in New York is the creation of a destination for sports.

Presutti went on to detail the relationship he has had with Diamond Sports Park and he proposed also bringing softball and baseball tournaments to the park. He passed around a hand-out that detailed how hosting a 96-team tournament could have a near $57-million impact upon the area.

For more information, call Parks and Rec director Richard Blalock at 258-9381 or city manager Keith Ashby at 472-0055.