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 establishes and weather conditions. "Spokane Sports has done a fantastic job of reaching out to the conference and event organizers and looking at, you know, how late could a decision be made," Leslie said.

Leslie said the city had engaged Sports Facilities Company (SFC) to produce an operations and funding report to inform venue management options and funding needs. "SFC has assured us that we will have a draft of their report by the end of this week," she said, adding the city has not yet authorized spending of the $475,000 TPA allocation tied to the course. The TPA funds will remain on hold while legal reviews of venue agreements — including an NCAA venue agreement the NCAA initially requested be signed by July 15 — are completed and the city’s legal and council approval steps are followed.

City Parks and Recreation Director John Battelle joined staff and, according to Leslie, brought initial agreement concepts to city council so councilors would be apprised of potential city roles and responsibilities under the NCAA agreement and related operations documents.

Commissioners and Spokane Sports representatives discussed parking and alternate hosting arrangements. Leslie said the final parking design for the course now provides about 170 marked parking spaces and that the city and Spokane Sports are exploring shuttle options and other shuttle/parking combinations for large events. "Most likely, for the events that we will be working with Spokane Sports on, those levels of events will require shuttle parking," she said.

Spokane Sports noted it has 19 bids or negotiations in motion and five existing commitments for the venue and that its work is focused on retaining events for 2026 and beyond. Ashley, a Spokane Sports representative, said Spokane Sports is leveraging regional hotel and business relationships to keep events in market if the course cannot host them in 2025.

Leslie also reminded the commission that city municipal code requires an annual summary and proposed TPA budget be provided to city council by Sept. 30; she said the department will prepare the annual report, incorporate quarterly marketing data, and work with finance staff to recommend a base budget figure for 2026 (Leslie said staff are currently considering a factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.3 and noted last year’s working figure had been about 1.275). Staff said the city has reduced the TPA reserve to $300,000.

Commissioners raised the idea of creating a small multiyear “opportunity fund” from TPA dollars to secure bid fees or incentives for events two to three years out. Leslie said such a fund—if proposed—would require council approval and that TPA funds are restricted to marketing‑related activities. She also said the city would explore procurement and budget processes necessary to implement such a fund.

On short‑term requests, staff recommended that any organizer seeking funding or a written commitment prior to the formal 2026 budgeting cycle contact city staff to make a presentation; Leslie said staff would facilitate a process to accept and vet such requests and could forward smaller requests to council when appropriate. She noted procurement rules limit informal city commitments under a $25,000 threshold for certain administrative processes.

What happens next: staff will review SFC’s draft report when it arrives, continue legal review of the NCAA venue agreement and related operations agreement, work with Spokane Sports and event organizers to find alternatives for two 2025 events, and prepare the TPA annual report and 2026 budget recommendation for council review before Sept. 30.

Ending: Staff said they expect the course—including turf and amenities—to be fully ready for event programming in 2026 if the grass establishes as planned, but they cautioned that final decisions for 2025 events depend on turf performance and pending contract approvals.