Consultants recommend SportQuest as new name for Rock Chalk Park recreation center

Kansas Relays update

Commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting also will consider approving a temporary occupancy permit to allow the Kansas Relays to be held at Rock Chalk Park later this month.

Staff members are recommending approval of the temporary permit, although not all the required infrastructure and building code issues have yet been addressed. Members of the planning staff expect the necessary work and inspections to be completed before the April 16 start date of the relays.

Fire alarms and sprinkler systems for the indoor facilities that will be part of the event are not expected to be completed. But Fire Chief Mark Bradford has said the event can proceed, as long as a crew of eight firefighters and two trucks are continually stationed at the event . Kansas University has agreed to pay for the costs of the fire crews, according to a city memo on the issue.

Other issues associated with the temporary occupancy permit include:

• A lighting plan for the facility. City officials have conceded that a lighting plan for the project should have been approved before construction, but commissioners on Tuesday will be asked to approve the plan. City officials plan to do a test run of the lights no later than Monday, and receive feedback from Jack Graham, a neighbor who has expressed concern that work was allowed to begin before a lighting plan was approved.

• Permission to allow vehicles to park on public streets near Rock Chalk Park. Relay officials are asking for permission to use portions of George Williams Way, Overland Drive and several residential streets north of Sixth Street for overflow parking at the site.

• The repair of a portion of concrete on Rock Chalk Parkway that was installed incorrectly in November. Inspectors noted problems with the section of street before the concrete pour, but crews hired by Lawrence-based Bliss Sports completed the pour anyway. City officials have said the section needs to be reconstructed. City officials said Bliss has agreed on the amount of pavement that needs to be replaced, but the work hasn’t yet been done. The city expects the work to be completed by April 11.

Lawrence, get ready for a quest.

A city-hired consulting firm is recommending that the city’s new multimillion dollar recreation center be named SportQuest at Rock Chalk Park.

“We’re on a quest for a healthy lifestyle,” said Jana Dawson, an executive with the Lawrence-based Miller Meiers marketing firm that has recommended the name. “The kind of venue we are putting in place will help people on that quest.”

SportsQuest at Rock Chalk Park, however, would only be part of the name. Consultants also are recommending that the city seek a title sponsor. In that case, a corporate name would be inserted in front of the SportsQuest at Rock Chalk Park phrase.

City commissioners will be asked to approve the recommendations at their Tuesday evening meeting.

Consultants haven’t yet approached any businesses about serving as the title sponsor, but the consultants have developed a list of prospects that include grocery stores, sporting goods retailers, health care providers and other similar businesses.

The marketing firm of Premier Sports Management is estimating a corporate sponsorship for the center could generate $95,000 to $125,000 a year, minus the cost of signs and Premier’s 20 percent commission. The company also thinks there is potential to attract two or three presenting sponsors that would have signs in spaces such as gyms, the fitness area, turf field and other places in the center. Those sponsorships could fetch $40,000 to $75,000 per sponsor.

Such large-scale corporate sponsorship for a city-owned facility would be new for Lawrence, but parks and recreation leaders said in a memo that they wanted to pursue the revenue opportunity. Otherwise, the department may have to consider charging the public “membership and other general use charges” to use the facility.

Miller Meiers considered several other names for the facility, including: AdAstra, OneLawrence, Freedom, Kanza, Victory, SportsOmni, and SportsPlex.

Dawson said the branding of the facility likely will go beyond just naming opportunities. She said other possibilities include allowing the title sponsor to host events at the facility, such as cookouts or entertainment zones for athletes and their families who are at the center for tournaments. She said video monitors in the facility also may be used to create highlight reels of tournament play that could then include the logos of the various sponsors of the facility.

“The key to generating the additional revenue will be to create something that is unique for the advertiser,” Dawson said. “It will be something more than just having a bunch of vinyl banners on the wall.”

City commissioners haven’t yet weighed in on the suggested name or the idea of allowing corporate sponsorship. Commissioners meet at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday at City Hall.