Sports Pavilion Lawrence, 100 Rock Chalk Lane

Since it opened two years ago, revenue for Sports Pavilion Lawrence has not been meeting expectations. That shortfall is part of the reason public access to the facility’s courts will now be restricted during some large tournaments.

But some argue that those changes go against promises made by the previous City Commission that the pavilion would operate as much as a community recreation center as a tournament venue. Lawrence resident Greg Robinson said that the policy change was “chipping away at the promise” made to taxpayers.

“The premise was that there would always be a free (play) time,” Robinson told commissioners at their meeting Tuesday night. “We’ve heard that it’s a business. OK, it’s a business. So when does 20 days turn into 30 days? When does 30 turn into 40?”

The new policy allows all eight basketball/volleyball courts to be used for large events or tournaments up to 20 days per year. The proposal also said that if a tournament closes down the courts at the pavilion, the city will ensure free play is available at the other recreation centers. City commissioners narrowly passed the proposal, with Mayor Mike Amyx and Vice Mayor Leslie Soden dissenting.

The ability to increase the pavilion’s revenue was one of the reasons for making the policy change. Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department officials said that in addition to safety and logistical concerns created when there is free play while a tournament is underway, the change could help attract and retain large tournaments.

“I don’t want to make this about money per se, because I honestly feel the quality of the experience is the more important issue, but revenue is an issue,” said Tim Laurent, recreation operations manager. “We may be the only game in Lawrence, but we’re not the only game in the area.”

Laurent said that as similar facilities are built in the area, competitiveness has increased.

“This is business; I mean this a competitive field — something that we have learned so much about over the last two years that we didn’t know,” Laurent said. “So we’re actively trying to bring those tournaments in.”

The 181,000 square-foot facility has eight basketball courts, which also double as 16 volleyball courts. Other facilities include an indoor turf area, gymnastics room, aerobic room, indoor walking track, cardio equipment, weight area and meeting rooms that can be rented by the public. Outside, there are also tennis courts and five miles of trails.

Amyx was the only commissioner that held a seat when the pavilion project was approved, and was also the lone dissenting vote against it. Amyx said always having a court open for free play was an important element of the pavilion’s function as a neighborhood center.

“As somebody who gave that promise, I mean I have a hard time taking it back now,” Amyx said. “Even though I do know things have changed, and I know that you need it, I just have a hard time doing that just because a promise was made.”

Others, though, said that the commission should not be held to the decisions made by the past commission when circumstances change, and that they had to face the reality that the pavilion needs to make more money.

“We’re not going to unbuild Sports Pavilion Lawrence, right? Those costs are always going to be there,” Commissioner Matthew Herbert said. “…I’m not a big fan of paying for it constantly, so the solution becomes find other people to pay for it for us, and therein lies the opportunity we have with these giant tournaments.”

Commissioner Stuart Boley agreed that the costs needed to be covered, but stressed that he thought the proposal did not provide sufficient budget information regarding the pavilion’s operations.

“We don’t have any information about costs,” Boley said. “We have information about revenue here, and we’ve had trouble getting information about what things cost, and that’s really frustrating.”

The most recent budget information available for the pavilion is for 2015, but was not included in the proposal presented to the commission Tuesday. In 2015, revenue for the pavilion was about $400,000, according to the department’s master plan. That is $250,000 less than estimates provided to the public during the facility’s controversial approval process.

That shortfall is despite the fact that the facility essentially hit its target for the number of tournaments per year, bringing in just one short of the 32 tournaments that former City Manager David Corliss estimated would be needed to make $650,000 in revenue. City staff did not immediately respond to a Journal-World request for details of the pavilion’s 2016 costs and revenue estimates.

Another solution would be charging a fee to those who use the facility. According to Laurent, the facility provides about 52 percent of all the indoor programs offered by the city and 37,000 residents have been issued key cards that provide access the workout facilities.

City Manager Tom Markus told commissioners that a user fee, as well as other sources of revenue for the pavilion, such as concessions, naming rights and advertising, would be coming back to the commission for review.

“Maybe for some of the users a nominal fee could be charged for the card that you have,” Markus said. “By anybody’s count, it’s an amazing facility, and while there is a cost, it’s pretty nice to get a pass as a resident for free and be able to use it in that fashion. But you do need to start thinking about long-term revenue streams.”