Group seeks county support for sports complex near Marion

A new group will seek Linn County assistance next week on a slightly altered plan for a baseball and softball complex on county-owned property north of Marion.

“This has so many positives,” said Jack Roeder. “Economic development, quality of life, and the fact that it's a non-profit and would put the money back into other charitable organizations.”

Roeder, former general manager of the Cedar Rapids Kernels, is helping launch non-profit Prospect Meadows to develop 17 baseball and softball fields and supporting facilities for youth play and regional tournaments.

Roeder said he'll make a pitch next week to county supervisors for $20,000 to fund a feasibility and financing study for the $9 million project.

When first floated last fall, the proposal had the complex on 78 acres next to the Cedar Rapids-Linn County Solid Waste Agency landfill at 1854 County Home Rd., just off Highway 13. The waste agency was cool to the idea of a sports facility on what it designated as buffer ground, so the retooled plan calls for the facility to go on about 120 acres owned by the county east of Highway 13 and south of County Home Road.

Roeder said there's no similar facility in Iowa or any of its neighboring states. He said he's consulted with management at Sports at the Beach, a baseball complex in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Hosting 30 to 35 tournaments per season, Prospect Meadows' board estimates the facility would generate $25 million a year in direct spending. Some of the tournaments would run a full week, drawing visitors who'd need up to 80,000 hotel rooms, Roeder said.

“That's what really draws,” he said. “When you want to look at the economic numbers and the hotel rooms, it's the extended tournaments that really draw the numbers.”

Roeder said he'll be Prospect Meadows' board president as soon as its incorporation is official.

“The paperwork should be done pretty soon,” he said.