Rochester Sports Complex March Update

Since the passage of the November vote supporting the Regional Sports and Recreation Complex there has been a lot of activity. Heading up the project are Ben Boldt and Scot Ramsey. The internal project team is divided into six areas which includes Site Selection, Operations, Design, Strategic CEE and DEI, Policy Committee and Construction.

At this time there are two main areas of focus for leadership:

1. 1)  Site Selection considerations are property size, expansion potential, existing conditions, infrastructure, transportation access, visibility, adjacent land uses, zoning, land ownership and system gaps. 10 sites up to 200 acres are being considered with the goal of narrowing the field down to 4. A firm has been hired to review sites and bring a proposal back for review by the city council. An engineering firm is also reviewing the sites.

2. 2)  Operations are favored to be run by a private firm which would be hired to manage the facility. This would include marketing, managing and custodial maintenance. All decisions will be reviewed and voted on by the city council.

Specs for the site include 125,000 sq. ft. indoor facility with multi-purpose courts, artificial turf training space, sports medicine and athletic performance centers and flexible space with a strong emphasis on the youth and needs of the community. Also considered are concessions and cafe, a walking track, changing room, lockers, multi-purpose community rooms, office and staff space, ticket office, team rooms and workout space.

Outdoor space includes 75-90 acres with 12 artificial turf fields, 12-16 Pickle Ball courts, field lighting, flex/warmup space, officials’ room, picnic and shade shelters, player seating, playground, scoreboards, bleachers, storage, trails, and vehicle and bike parking.

The timeline is for a site to be selected by the end of the year with construction taking place in 2025 and 2026 and an opening in late 2026.

Rochester Sports Foundation is involved in several aspects of this proposed development and will be posting monthly updates on the progress and decisions moving forward. Please bookmark this site and check back regularly to keep up on details. Feel free to share your thoughts to our Director, Ed Hruska, at ehruska@rochsports.com.