Parks committee approves up to $20,000 to study sports-tourism potential for master plan

The Troy Parks and Recreation Committee on Aug. 25 agreed to move forward with emergency authorization to add up to $20,000 to its Parks and Recreation Master Plan contract so Legacy Sports Group can perform a sports-tourism demand and economic-impact analysis that will be folded into the master plan.

Committee member Jeffrey Wood opened the meeting and introduced the item. City staff member Mr. Titherington said American StructurePoint, the master-plan consultant, recommended subcontracting Legacy Sports Group to “correctly size the number of fields, the number of facilities” and to provide more realistic estimates of tournament-driven economic impact. “There would be an additional cost of $20,000 up to $20,000 for them to dive in,” Titherington said, and he recommended emergency legislation so the work would not delay the draft master plan.

Why it matters: The analysis will inform placement and sizing of fields and amenities and help prioritize projects with cost estimates, which the committee and city boards will use when identifying funding sources. Committee members questioned whether tournaments would generate direct revenue for the city or mainly for local businesses, and pressed for examples of Legacy’s prior work.

Titherington told the committee American StructurePoint had collected more than 860 surveys and had convened five focus groups, with additional sessions pending. He said Legacy would conduct follow-up interviews with key focus-group participants and study supporting infrastructure such as hotel capacity and restaurants in Troy and nearby Dayton to determine whether the market can sustain additional tournaments.

Committee member Mr. Pierce said a profitable tournament’s economic benefits typically flow to hotels, restaurants and other local businesses rather than to the municipal government. “The city is not going to reap finances coming from that, coming forward unless it's rental of the fields,” Pierce said.

Pierce also asked for Legacy’s track record; Titherington said the consultant packet included examples of work in other communities and that American StructurePoint had used Legacy repeatedly with positive results. The mayor said, “We move forward,” and the committee agreed to pursue emergency legislation to add the analysis to the master-plan contract and keep the PRIMP schedule on track.

Next steps: Legacy Sports Group will conduct targeted interviews and produce a sports-tourism analysis that American StructurePoint will incorporate into the Parks and Recreation Master Plan draft, which will list prioritized projects with cost estimates. The committee did not record a roll-call vote during the meeting; staff indicated the group would proceed with emergency legislation to authorize the additional funds.