Just remember everyone. If it can't pay for itself the village will have to pay for it through higher taxes or cuts in other services. Two of these centers have already gone into receivership in the last few years. There is a reason why there are no private sport complexes in the area. They are not profitable.

The village government should fast track a beautified downtown. What ever happened to the Citgo Grant to improve downtown? We need to encourage commerce within our downtown not another sports club.

Now, was that so hard?

We need a Promenade !! Lemont from what I've been told does not give business owners a break on property tax and heaven forbid if you want a liquor license. I'm tired of the "there is not enough traffic going through Lemont" comments. Does Lemont have property along 355 ? Again , Bolingbrook seems to have done it right. "Build it and they will come " . Ok ... Now off to Hollywood Blv to spend some more not Lemont $.

Mayor Reaves:
I appreciate that you are holding a meeting on Wed, 2/6 at 8:00am. Like myself and many others, at that time, we are at work. Would you be willing to hold another meeting Wednesday or Thursday evening? Also, thank you for the Q&A, but there are still many lingering questions that remain unanswered (some posted on Patch)needing clarification.

1. Why is the public hearing about this just now - only given 30 days notice? Why not put it up for referendum like the Park District ?
2. With other sports complexes in the viciinty and in a particular Crains' Chicago Business article detailing failed sports complexes, how is it this facility any different from others?(e.g. Complex in Romeoville, Lake Barrington, Center in West Dundee, etc.)
3. Are any of the interested organizations currently using facilities in Lemont? Wouldn't that hurt them?
4. How much potential revenue will this generate according to your studies?
5. What happens if the environmental testing of the land results come back with contamination? Who pays for the clean up?
6. Were there any studies done to see if there other potential alternatives existed for the land at no cost to the village?
6. Who's idea was this project?
7. If this facility does not generate enough revenue, who is on the line for paying the alternative revenue bonds?
8. Why should the Lemont village invest $21M into a property we don't own?

This is a sampling of questions needing answers. THank you.

Q. Is the public able to reject the project?
A. Nope, we're in Illinois.

Crains Ice Rink Construction Default Story....

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130126/ISSUE01/301269974/suburban-ice-rink-finances-are-slip-sliding-away

"Studies have estimated that the project will conservatively bring between 500,000 and 600,000 people annually to the facility."
450 person capacity?
288 Parking spots?
Hmmmm.
450 x 365 days per year = 164,000 people.
Looks like that place will need to be filled capacity 3 times every day of the year.
Maybe we should slow down and do a little math checking, eh?

Darien Sportsplex info:
- No tax dollars are used to fund the Sportsplex, all funding comes from facility revenue.
- No defaults on bond repayment.
- For FY 2011-12 Sportsplex fund revenues were $2,701,919, operating expenses were $1,950,598 resulting in an operating inccome of $751,321.

So Lemont can choose this possible (and likely) scenario or do nothing and make nothing on that property.

Okay, Dave....I'll play. Let's assume that on EACH of the 365 days in each year while the INDOOR portion of the facility is jam-packed, another 900 people are enjoying the outdoor facilities. That would be fun on a day like this wouldn't it?
Of course, they would all be car-pooling because of only 288 parking spots.
But, you're right. In the scenario above, It is possible to expect 500,000-6000,000 people to utilize this facility per year.
But since you are obviously so well informed, you already knew that, didn't you?

Ooops!
500,000-600,000 people.
Sorry!

T. Bitsky if you want a polite response you should stop being condescending in your posts.

I am sorry to tell you but you still do not understand what 450 seating capacity means and why it is irrelevant here. Most people who come to this facility will not be sitting, again this is not a movie theater, this is a sports facility. The seats will be mostly used for spectators watching people play a sport. So making an assumption about likely visitor projections based on the indoor seating capacity or parking spots is completely wrong.

Soccer games last approx. an hour so there conceivably could be 10-12 games per field per weekend day. So using your seat logic the number of seats used and parking spots could turn over 10-12 times per weekend day. Some games may be for adults, some games for children with at least one parent per child. The article states that there will be an outdoor rink in the winter so yes, there will likely be people using the outdoor rink on some winter days.

I am not involved in this so I have no idea on these numbers, but I am sure they are not made up and probably a little bit more thought went into them then you made in your original post. It sounds like you have not been to many sports tournaments be it soccer, lacrosse or another field sport. If you had you could probably understand better that these numbers are likely very realistic.

Regarding the contamination issue, seven years ago I was part of the group that negotiated with the MWRD to lease this very property for the purpose of a sports facility that is eerily similar to what is being purposed now. At that time, one of the biggest stumbling blocks was the fact that the MWRD was requiring the removal of 100% of the contaminated soil. While our studies showed that encapsulation was a viable option, the MWRD rejected this and insisted that 100% of the contaminated soil needed to be removed from the site. They would not accept encapsulation as an alternative. Given the fact that this proposal includes outdoor playing space, while ours was 100% indoor uses, it is interesting that encapsulation is now being discussed as a way to clear up the contamination. The estimated budget to remove the soil seven years ago was in the $2-$3 million range to be incurred by the developer of the property. The most important point of all of this discussion is the safety of the users of the facility, our children. Hopefully, this issue is paramount to moving forward.

Dave, sorry you interpret my response as condescending. But YOU are the one who is not understanding. Even when making the assumption that max. capacity is attained 3x per EVERY day of the year, the quoted figure of 500,000 to 600,000 is NOT attained. Yes, AYSO soccer games run about an hour, and 10-12 games per field on any of 12 Saturdays is realistic. It's been awhile since I've been involved with AYSO, but I believe that AYSO still does not PAY for field usage. Traveling teams I DO know quite a bit about, and, once again, field usage fees are always kept to a minimum. That doesn't sound like a big revenue stream is being generated at the new Sportsplex.
By the way, I'm sure that many Lemont parents who may read this are laughing right now at your comment that I have not been involved in local sports very much, but I'll let that pass for now.
In short, yours are the numbers that don't make any sense. You have accounted for perhaps 20-30 days per year of usage, and that still leaves this proposed project in the same boat as the rest of the Sports projects in this area: woefully under-used and foolishly over-capitalized.
The more I read of this potential debacle, the more I am convinced that a long look is in order before this the town writes a check that we have to cash with our taxes. And make no mistake, Dave, our taxes are what will pay for this.

"Maybe we should slow down and do a little math checking, eh?" is not an interpretation of condescending it is condescending as well as pompous.

I have lived here 15+ years never heard of you. Again you appear to be reading things that aren't there, I said nothing about you not being involved in local sports -- I said it sounds like you have not been to sports tournament, if wrong I apologize.

For some reason you seemed to be hung up on seating capacity and you don't seem to understand the difference between seating capacity and building capacity, thus my comment about your attendance at sports tournaments. There is no mention of building capacity in the article. 450 people SITTING watching games does not mean there are 450 people in the building, they would be watching players in the game, thus there are many more than 450 people in the building if maximum seating capacity is reached.

As I have previously stated I do not know if these projections are accurate or not, but I am much more likely to believe the Village's study than you. Unless you are an expert in this or have done studies like this before you are just making up numbers and presenting them as semi-factual.

You also seem to disregard the facts that I provided about the Darien Sportsplex. $700,000+ in operating revenue does not equate to a facility that is woefully under-used. If you want to continue to make up numbers and theories in your head and want to disregard facts that is your choice.

Congrats to the Mayor and those participating in the sports complex proposal. I will be interested to hear all the facts of the public hearing. I do commend the Mayor and team for making an attempt to improve Lemont, generate a new traffic flow to downtown (which suffers from citizen support for for our local businesses) and create a new revenue steam for our local businesses.

To The Pessimistic Posters: Why not reserve judgment until you hear all the facts at the public hearing?

Hmmmm, Dave1. Isn't the Darien sports complex an indoor ice rink facility? I do not see that anywhere in the plans for lemont. Apples to oranges.

two comments - After the facility is paid off, does this give the village extra revenue and perhaps lower our taxes?

There have been failed sports complexes and there have been successful ones. Why have some failed and others succeeded and why do people think this will succeed are the questions that should be asked.

21 million dollar sports complex! Can't even keep a bowling alley open.

If the revenues can't pay the debt service, "the Village is pledging the operational revenue from the complex, sales tax receipts, income tax and TIF increment".

What is this reference to INCOME TAX about? Lemont already taxes everything they can (I know this after moving from Downers), now a local income tax?!?!

I guess the whole thing hangs on the issue of attendance. If they BUILD IT and NO ONE COMES.... That is the problem. Then who is on the hooks for the DEBT?

Obviously Dave is pro complex and Benton is con at this point.

Off the need for 5-600000 people annually... That comes to a need of 1370-1644 people a day.
Really not seeing that projection.

I don't agree Keith that this hinges on whether or not the study is correct that this facility will have 500,000-600,000 visitors per year. This is not a movie theater, if a person walks in to watch their child play a sport they do not pay a fee at the door to get into the facility. Mayor Reaves never said that they need 500,000-600,000 people to pay to use this facility to break even.

My sense is the majority of the revenue generated will come from field rental user fees with other revenue coming from concessions, marketing, etc. So a league wants to have a lacrosse tournament there and they pay a fee to have it at the facility. Some teams who play in the tournament may bring 100+ players and fans to the facility, others more, others less. The facility gets the same amount of revenue for the use of the fields, it is not dependent on how many people come to play or watch the games. I assume revenue projections are based on how many tournaments, games or practices this facility will likely host, as well as concessions and marketing.

In turn some of those families will spend money downtown. If the numbers are off and it is 450,000 visitors to the facility that would still provide benefit to downtown businesses.

This undeveloped land currently brings 0 people to the Village which therefore means no additional revenue moving forward.

It is currently undeveloped and that is because it is Toxic. What was the estimate to clean it up 2-3 million. Why would you want your kids to play there? The town is starting in the hole before they even begin building because they have to clean up the land. I am all for developing the area, I just think a Sports Complex and the numbers they are using to back up the idea are bad. Get someone other than the town to clean it up first. Then request ideas from the people of Lemont to begin the process. Not shove it down our throats. It is too much money in too short a time to be a good business decision. If it was such a great idea, the private sector would have already done it.

I guess the question is what is the projected revenue and what is the expense on a yearly basis? No actual numbers thrown out there for what a cost would be to a prospective renter on traveling team or anything? They did say a 5-600,000 visitors on an annual basis will be coming thru the facility..

The Allstate Arena has 1,500,000 people a year. Do we really think that a Lemont Sportsplex can do 1/3 of the Allstate arena? They also have 4500 parking spaces and good roads heading in and out.

Dare we get a Culvers in Lemont ? "Nick Burger" now costs $9 - place was just about empty 1/29 when I was there.

Lets name the building after Bob Porter and erect a bronze statue of him just outside the door.

put in two curling sheets please

Hey! Theres one thing you wonderful people are forgetting.., no one goes downtown, we need to put a local traffic only bridge there to stimulate traffic flow, i mean the post office is a one-horse show, they put an annex that isn't useable by patrons uptown, when they needed to make a full fledged facility with some 21st century automation like late night self serve drop boxes like Orland and tinley park have. Listen the object shouldn't be to add more junk to an area that doesn't have proper sidewalks and curbs and or dilapidated sidewalks and curbs it should be the upgrade and beautification of that existing landscape rather than adding new to rundown much like they do in the ghettos of Chicago, rundown dilapidated community... Hey look a new strip mall with a gas station, subway and video store, not the proper way to do business for a town in my opinion!

A project of this magnitude should not be undertaken without publishing all of the facts and figures the village board has accumulated. There should then be a PUBLIC REFERENDUM so the citizens of Lemont can vote to decide if the project should go forward. Otherwise, the citizens are forced to accept a grand scale project and ultimatley be responsibe for it's costs if the project does not pay for itself, without having any say in the matter.

Mayor Reaves. Could you please arrange for a referendum so the people of Lemont can be heard on this issue?

The only way this will be up for referendum is to get petitions from the village hall and obtain a grand total of 785 signatures from village of Lemont registered voters. I don't think Mayor Reaves will consider adding this as a referendum to the April ballot, so the Lemont taxpayers have to make it happen. Petitions may be in circulation, not sure, but suggest going to the village and picking up one.

Hi Benton. I actually think there is argument out there on whether or not we need this. To invest $21M in taxpayer money on land we don't own that is likely contaminated, who is going to pay for land clean up, upkeep, operational expenses and what happens if it doesn't generate enough revenue? The taxpayers are tapped out. This is a huge risk for a small town. We don't have the population like a Downers Grove or even Bolingbrook.

True, But based on the village boards action we can only petition to block the "Fast Track" funding requiring them to put a referendum to the voters. I realize that you like many believe that this may be a boondoggle but I suggest we work to force a referendum so that there is time to truly analyze the proposal. I am highly skeptical of this project but will reserve opinion until after the two scheduled meetings.

Village indicates that income will be 133% of costs. That says the margin is 33% which is admirable. If we meet these goals we have a sucess story! One win breds another. That acerage on Route 83 the Village bought recently just might be the site of a hotel/motel with a Cracker Barrel, the Scout camp could happen, a I&M Canal musuem, an equestran complex, a I and M Canal Walk, maybe a campground and marina to top it all off for a great recreational area with "housing" for the sports people in the motel and camping for the Chicago visitors. Add a few more recreational ventures to this area and we have a real attraction here in Lemont.

Does anyone know if a referendum petition can be assembled electronically?

If not what else can be done to stop the village board from proceeding with this project?

Who drives down there now anyway. Its all industry. The same industry that started this town for you new lemonters. We cant even fill up the condos and stores we just built. those roads cant handle the traffic increase. Another brilliant plan to raise spending