QuickTake:

Travel Lane County asked county leaders to support efforts to bring a multipurpose events facility to the region. The goal is for a facility that can host indoor sports events, among others, and increase travel to the region, boosting the economy. 

Lane County may eventually get a multipurpose indoor facility that can host sports tournaments and other large-scale events.

Travel Lane County officials gave county commissioners an update Tuesday on the organization’s push to identify a location and craft a plan. At this point, the project is without a confirmed location, funding in hand or a plan of who would run a facility large enough to have at least eight basketball courts.

For Travel Lane County, those uncertainties are not deterrents. 

Travel Lane County is a private organization funded by a portion of the revenues from the transient lodging tax, which is charged on stays at hotels, motels, campgrounds and other facilities. Its goal is to increase overnight visitors, which in turn drives up the lodging tax revenues and fuels the tourism economy.

The project is especially intended to increase lodging in the winter, when hotel stays typically dip.

“We’re looking for things that generate those overnight stays,” Samara Phelps, president and chief executive officer of Travel Lane County, told county commissioners.

Phelps said the ability to host indoor sports events would bring more people to the region, and many would stay overnight.

The organization estimates that the facility could generate nearly $528,000 in transient lodging taxes every year.

Local officials and tourism leaders in Lane County have considered the concept for more than a decade. The facility also could host other types of events and provide a place to help people during natural disasters.

Travel Lane County has been working with a consultant on a list of minimum requirements for a sports tourism destination.

Those include: eight basketball courts and a 25-foot-high ceiling, space that could be converted for volleyball, wrestling and pickleball. The space also could be available for community use on weekdays or when it’s not booked for tournaments or events.

If the money is available, officials also would like the facility to include an indoor running track.

It’s uncertain where the money would come from to build and maintain the center. Initial estimates peg the costs at about $50 million, not counting the purchase of land. An indoor running track could bring the costs up to $60 million to $80 million. Travel Lane County’s board has committed $2 million to demonstrate its commitment to the project. 

A past failed effort to bring a sports facility to Eugene could provide some of the necessary funding, if the county agrees.

The county in 2023 passed a 2% hotel lodging tax for tourism facilities when the county 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.

“We have a certain amount of funds that are sitting there that are designated for tourism infrastructure,” commission Chair David Loveall said. “They’re not designated for anything else.”

There are plenty of unknowns, though officials are scouting potential locations that include the former Royal Caribbean call center in Springfield and the former PakTech packing supply location in Cottage Grove near that community’s airport. Another potential site is the Lane Events Center, which county officials are already making plans to overhaul. 

They also could land on an entirely different site and build a center from the ground up rather than rehabbing an existing building.

Phelps said the organization can work with county staff and present more specifics on concepts for a facility in December.

It also remains to be worked out how the facility would be managed, such as through a private contracted management company, an existing community group or a new organization.

County officials supported the general idea of the facility, though they also stressed the county’s financial resources are limited.

Commissioner Pat Farr said he supports the concept and looks forward to learning more. Sports events in the future facility can unite a community for generations, he said.

“The Sunday and Monday after a Ducks win, you never see Eugene more elevated than that,” Farr said.

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 combat 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.