Hopkins Road Softball Park in Liverpool could soon become a sports facility capable of attracting big crowds, according to officials.
Onondaga County is proposing to invest $25 million into turning the park into an athletic complex.
“We commissioned a market study to prove that this would be a feasible project that would drive great outcomes for our community,” said Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon. “Great outcomes for our local athletic clubs, great outcomes for our local businesses, whether it’s restaurants or hotels.”
The Hopkins Sports Complex would consist of 10 fields made with synthetic turf and one indoor field.
County Legislature Chairman David Knapp knows about the revenue potential in the proposed complex because his daughter was on a travel lacrosse team.
“When you go to these tournaments, they are usually very, very large, lots of kids and lots of families,” said Knapp. “You’re almost always staying overnight, so you’re getting a hotel room or two. You’re eating out and supporting restaurants in the neighborhood, fuel, and the whole nine yards, because you’re living in this location for several days, usually. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s not cheap.”
The project, along with the market study, will be presented to the County Legislature on Wednesday.
The county would use money from the American Rescue Plan to fund the project.
It’s unclear how members will vote.
“There’s absolutely concerns with many members of the Legislature to make sure that this is a prudent use of that money and the correct use,” Knapp said. “We’re really concentrating with this money on doing things that are one-shot type costs that won’t incur a lot of revenue down the road when the stimulus money is gone. We don’t want to overcommit ourselves to future budgets that we don’t know where the revenue is going to be.”
If approved, the designing process will be the first step, with completion coming by 2023.
McMahon believes the complex would have a $20 million impact by its fourth year in operation.
