Churchill County Commissioners heard and approved an update last week during their regular meeting from Parks and Recreation Director Jorge Guerrero on the progress of the Rafter 3C Arena & Event Complex strategic review and recommendations report. He introduced Suzanne Fisher Reeder of the Sports Facilities Companies who appeared remotely from her office in Florida. Reeder and her company were hired as consultants by the commissioners to analyze the economic impacts of the 3C facilities on the local community.
According to Reeder, the mission of her company is to help improve the health and economic vitality of communities. Over the course of several months, in order to complete the report, her company did a review of the facility design and operating budget, compared the budget and financial forecast projections to industry benchmarks, researched regional tournaments and events, analyzed daily expenditures of attendees, and created an economic impact calculator for the facility.
The report lays out specific definitions of success the facility must reach, including being a best-in-market asset that features diverse and flexible programming capabilities such as agri-focused recreation events, community, civic, and school activities that serve the community and a wide variety of potential partners. The facility must be a driver of economic impact that supports existing local businesses and generates consumer spending from non-local visitors and must optimize revenue-generating opportunities to create a path for long-term sustainability.
In addition to their analysis, SFA also made strategic recommendations for new opportunities to grow operations, programming, financial capacity, economic diversity, and make potential future improvements to the facility. They also provided a projection of Fiscal Year 2022-23 economic impacts which may be possible if the facility meets programming and event expectations.
The report looked at the local and regional markets, noting that the local market is made up of nearly 112,000 people within a one-hour distance and 4.5 million people within a four-hour distance. The median age of that population is 38 with the median income of the local population being $53,479 and $71,458 for the larger radius, numbers below the national average.
Looking at competition data, the report says there are more than 110 existing local service providers within the 4-hour radius of multi-purpose field facilities, indoor courts, equestrian centers, concert venues, diamond fields, indoor turf fields, and recreational vehicle parks.
The Rafter 3C building as an indoor arena can provide a clear-span arena, four basketball courts, eight volleyball courts, or four college/pro courts, and bleacher seating for 1,821. The SFA report says that concerts or seated events in the arena need to be assessed to ensure local and sub-regional participation that is revenue positive. Additionally, “subsidized events need to promote community vitality, engagement, inclusion, and cultural diversity.” SFA also recommended incorporating services that provide access to sports and recreation for low-income households.
Economic impact expectations of the 3C Arena were calculated citing Average Daily Expenditures by overnight visitors as an average of $129 per person, with day trip users averaging $35 per person. Forecasts for the annual county fair with 2,000 visitors would bring an economic impact of $209,813. 2022-23 projections for the facility with equine events, the Cantaloupe Festival, and athletic and other events would bring a total of $5,709,044 to the local economy.
Chairman Pete Olsen asked about the fee structure and Jesse Segura, Fairgrounds Operation Deputy reported currently the facility is on the low end for fees. He said, “We have to get people in there and as time goes on, we will have to look at the fees. We have 38 weekends booked already for next year. I wanted to get it busy.”
Guerrero said looking at the fees needs to be done and they are beginning to look at contracts now to make changes to the fees. They are also building in the clean-up fees based on the events providing their own clean-up and structuring deposits around who provides the labor.
Segura said when he is locating contestant-driven events that get over 350 contestants, “we just run out of room.” The Cowboy Fast Draw event had 320 contestants and they anticipate doubling next year.
Olsen said, “The hope is this will be a launching pad for a lot of economic development, more hotels, and restaurants, and support the ones that are already here.” He said the city is working to attract hotel developers and asked if there were ways to get in front of the right people and show that the metrics are there.
Guerrero said Bruce Breslow, the economic development consultant for the city and county is working specifically on that issue.
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