City pauses use of new cross‑country course for events as turf establishes; TPA spending held pending consultant review

City staff told commissioners at a Spokane Valley tourism meeting that the newly built 17‑acre cross‑country course will not host two scheduled 2025 events because the grass turf needs time to establish and could be damaged by heavy use.

The city is also pausing expenditure of roughly $475,000 in Tourism Promotion Area funds while it awaits a draft operations and funding report from a consultant and final review of venue and operations agreements related to hosting NCAA championship events.

Leslie, a city staff member presenting the administrative report, said workers began laying turf the week of the meeting and that contractors said the grass needs about six weeks to establish strong roots. "The contractor that's laying the grass has expressed some concerns. They need about 6 weeks for that grass to really take root," Leslie said. She added that under certain weather conditions meeting that timeline could be challenging and that, "At this point, we're thinking the City has really determined that it is unlikely that the 2 events that were scheduled for 2025 will be held at the course."

The city is coordinating with Spokane Sports and event organizers to find alternate sites for the two 2025 events, and staff emphasized the situation could change depending on how the turf…