RIVER FALLS, WIS. ? Spending nearly $2.5 million to expand and modernize training-camp facilities for the Kansas City Chiefs was good all the way around, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday.

“You’ve got to be willing to make smart investments,” Doyle said following dedication ceremonies on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus.

“This will pay for itself many times over. The Kansas City Chiefs benefit from this. But this is a major improvement on this campus as well. The students who attend River Falls and the students who are thinking about where they may attend, when they see this facility, it’s going to help this school a lot.”

Earlier, team president Carl Peterson announced he had reached agreement with university officials on a new five-year option to continue making River Falls the Chiefs’ summer home. The agreement is for a series of five-year options beginning next year.

Either party can cancel out each year. But that seems unlikely given the close relationship that has evolved between the NFL franchise and this school and community in Western Wisconsin.

The Chiefs have trained in River Falls, roughly 500 miles north of Kansas City, Mo., for the past 15 years.

“These new facilities are so nice,” Chiefs linebacker Shawn Barber told the dedication guests, “maybe we should just move the entire team up here from Kansas City.”

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, right, laughs as he talks with Kansas City players Shawn Barber, left, and Trent Green. The governor talked Monday in River Falls, Wis., about improvements made to the Chiefs practice facility.

The total cost of the project was $2.49 million. About $600,000 was raised by the university and the rest was tax money provided by Wisconsin lawmakers.

The annual economic impact for River Falls from the Chiefs staying here about 24 days each summer is estimated at between $1 million and $2 million.

“There are benefits, not only the benefits of people coming to town and the restaurants and the motels and the things that happen from having a training camp. But it just helps the region to have an organization as well known as the Kansas City Chiefs pick this campus as their training camp,” Doyle said.

The new facilities include new locker rooms, showers and restrooms, a training room and a work room. In addition, air conditioning was added.