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Consultants present draft HAPO Center master plan; council told draft to be released for review
Summary
Consultants summarized a draft HAPO Center master plan, recommending a sports- and tournament-focused campus, expanded multipurpose uses and targeted infrastructure changes; consultants said a fuller draft will be delivered imminently and stakeholder meetings are scheduled.
Larry Leisure of White Leisure Group introduced a draft master plan for the HAPO Center and said stakeholders—including county partners and the advisory board—will receive the draft for review in the coming days. Charlie Johnson of Johnson Consulting and Brian Cole, working on site inventory and market analysis, presented the consultant team’s findings and next steps.
The consultants said the grounds—about 100 acres split among equity owners—have untapped market potential as a sports campus and event center. The team recommended doubling down on softball tournament capacity while keeping soccer, baseball and other fields multipurpose, improving wayfinding and pedestrian access, and reformatting arena and expo spaces to host a broader mix of sporting and small-event uses.
Brian Cole said the draft demand projection is “conservative” and estimated current operations support roughly 250 hotel room nights and could generate north of $2 million per year in tax revenue across jurisdictions under typical scenarios; higher numbers are possible for large festivals. The presentation listed practical constraints—an existing gas line through the property, circulation and parking needs, and back-of-house “laydown” and loading areas—alongside opportunities for added commercial nodes near hotels and restaurants.
Councilmembers asked about timing, parking and trade-offs between softball and soccer fields. Consultants said the full draft report will be distributed to council and to the county commissioners for a morning presentation, with an advisory-board overview at 5 p.m. the following day, and that further stakeholder meetings will refine layouts and implementation steps.
The council did not take action on the plan at the meeting; staff and the consultants said additional public and interjurisdictional review sessions are scheduled.
