QuickTake:

Lane County officials agreed to pay for half the cost of a $450,000 assessment that looks at the financing and operations of a potential indoor sports facility. They’ll know more in about six months.

Lane County officials are moving forward with researching options for a potential new indoor multisport facility.

Commissioners agreed Tuesday, Jan. 27, to split the cost of an analysis of an indoor multisport facility with Travel Lane County, a private organization that works with the county to increase tourism and overnight travel in the region. The county will pay $225,000 of the $450,000 analysis cost.

The county’s decision signals a commitment in principle to gather specific details about the project.

At this point, the facility is not a done deal. If the project becomes a reality, Lane County would get an indoor facility that could be used for regional sports tournaments and other events with the goal of increasing hotel stays in the region, especially during the winter, when tourism slows down. 

The analysis is expected to take about six months. Travel Lane County will select a consultant and get to work on the study, which will examine details such as ownership and operational responsibilities for the facility, funding options and potential sites.

Essentially, the county will get a breakdown of options rather than one recommendation and information about costs and models, such as what the outlook would be if a third-party is contracted to run a facility. 

“It is not to give us the model,” Samara Phelps, president and chief executive officer of Travel Lane County, told commissioners. “It’s to give us tools that would be in our toolkit.”

Phelps said the county will get updates on the work, ideally once every six weeks.

County commissioners don’t know where the facility may end up. Potential locations include the former Royal Caribbean call center in Springfield and the Lane Events Center, which county officials are already making plans to overhaul. 

Commissioners didn’t need to make a formal vote Tuesday, as the dollar amount is under the threshold that requires a vote. But they all signaled their approval of getting more information about options and financing. 

Commissioner Heather Buch said it’s important that rural county residents benefit from the investment. 

Phelps said the project will have regional benefits and be a “resource for families outside of the metro area.” For rural residents, the location will “feel a lot more like home when it’s here in Lane County” compared to traveling to a facility in Medford, Phelps said.

Commissioner Laurie Trieger said she looks forward to getting more information about the project. She said she’s curious to know whether the facility would draw business from throughout the region and whether there’s “more business than there is a place to do it.”

The county’s transient lodging tax account will pay for its share of the analysis. The county started a 2% hotel lodging tax increase for tourism facilities in 2023 when it was considering a minor league baseball stadium for the Eugene Emeralds at the Lane Events Center. But voters rejected a $15 million ballot measure in 2024 that was necessary for the stadium project. 

The 2% hotel tax has continued to accumulate since 2023, reaching about $9 million.

Officials will need tens of millions more to pay for the indoor sports facility project if they pursue it. Initial estimates peg the costs at about $50 million, not counting the purchase of land. Adding an indoor running track could boost the costs to $60 million to $80 million.

Travel Lane County’s board has committed $2 million to demonstrate its commitment to the project. 

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.