RANTOUL, Ill. (WAND) – Leaders in Rantoul are interested in building a $20 million sports complex to attract people in the Midwest to the area.
The plans, shown at a village board meeting in the first week of September, would involve a 60-plus acre facility on the west side of town, according to the Rantoul Press. City officials backing the project said they would use only new funds to raise the money, which would come from private contributions, donations, grants and sponsorships, with most funding provided by bonds covered by income from the Rantoul tax-increment financing fund.
Village Administration Scott Eisenhauer told the board, which would have to give the project the final green light, that the project can lead to more restaurants, hotels and retail on the I-57 corridor. He said there is already interest from “at least 10 regional and national sports organizations” about bringing tournaments to Rantoul in 2021, when it would be open.
Site work could start in the fall of 2019 with construction happening in 2020 and tournaments in the spring of 2021, should the project be approved.
Traveling teams from a four-hour radius around Rantoul could be involved – a distance that includes places like Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Louisville. Eisenhauer told the board those events bring overnight stays in hotels to the area.
The Press referenced a Visit Champaign County market study in its report, which found a 60-team youth baseball tournament could lead to direct business sales of $656,000 from over 3,000 visitors.
Officials want the public to be involved in the process as they decide if the project should be pursued. Locals can attend meetings allowing comment at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and Tuesday, Sept. 24 in Rantoul’s municipal building.
The concept will go to the Rantoul Township High School board meeting on Sept. 9 and Rantoul Park District meeting on Sept. 19, per the newspaper. Eisenhauer hopes to speak with leaders from University of Illinois Parkland College and Illinois State University as well.
This facility would be unique, Eisenhauer argued, because it would be one of the few of its kind in the Midwest with turf fields – something that means events won’t be canceled due to weather.
