KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Kalamazoo County board will be asked Tuesday to create a search committee for the new $40 million youth indoor sports complex.
There is already a list of nominees for that panel.
Hotel owners have approved the funding mechanism to build the complex, which will provide facilities for tournaments on the weekend, and for local use the rest of the week.
Discover Kalamazoo Director Jane Ghosh says the ad hoc committee’s only function will be to pick the site for the facility.
“We’re seeking expertise in areas such as hoteliers, we’re looking for sports experience, tourism experience, project development experience, finance.”
They can then set up the authority which will manage the operation once the site has been identified by the committee.
“That would then become the basis for the authority board once the authority is established,” Ghosh says.
One of the 3 proposed sites is next to the Air Zoo in Portage. The other two remain a mystery, but nominations for representatives from the cities of Portage, Kalamazoo and Texas Township suggest the three locations could be within those jurisdictions.
The list of nominees includes representatives from the hotel industry, Local youth sports operations, the Hinman Company, two executives at S.W. Michigan First, Ghosh, two county commissioners and the three municipal representatives.
They are: Jill Bland, Annemarie Boarman, Jane Ghosh, Rich MacDonald, Devshya Patel, Brian Persky Page, Corey Person, Fred Rahme, Commissioner Monteze O. Morales, Commissioner Abigail Wheeler, Kalamazoo Vice Mayor Jeanne Hess, Portage City Manager Pat McGinnis, and a representative from Texas Township yet to be determined.
Ghosh says their studies show that no matter where they put it, all local hotels and restaurants should benefit from the additional visitors.
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