They built it, and the teams will be coming.
The West Michigan Sports Commission's flagship project, The Art Van Sports Complex, is open and ready for business. The facility is a championship caliber baseball/softball complex near Rockford featuring eight baseball and softball fields, including the 385-foot fenced Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation Championship Field with covered grandstands to seat 1,000 spectators; the Nate Hurwitz Miracle League Field for children with disabilities; warm-up areas, restrooms, concessions and maintenance building; and parking for more than 400 vehicles.
The complex will be the first of its kind in West Michigan and Mike Guswiler, executive director, estimates the venue will attract more than 75 events and 135,000 visitors in its first five years of operation with a big picture economic impact for Kent County in excess of $20 million. "We are attracting travel teams and their families that will be spending their money on hotels and restaurants," he says. Guswiler says studies indicate the average family spends $463 per tournament.
Guswiler says besides the direct economic impact of the traveling teams, the two-year construction process used over 24 companies, and the facility will eventually employ 12-18 part-time positions in addition to the three full-time staff already on board.
Upon completion of Phase 2, the sports complex will feature 12 fields. Visit
artvansportscomplex.com for more information.
Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News editor
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