By Nathan Isaacs, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Oct. 20--The Kennewick City Council on Tuesday reluctantly agreed to wait on building a top-tier sports complex in the Southridge neighborhood until better financial times or a great opportunity comes along.
In the meantime, the council agreed to spend about $2.8 million for preparing the 60-acre site for when that day does come.
The proposed location is west of Highway 395 and south of West 27th Avenue. Southridge High School is to the southwest and Wal-Mart to the northeast.
The city wants to build a sports complex big enough to draw local, regional and even national sporting events to the city.
Not only would such a complex improve the city's quality of life, it also would be an economic engine for tourism dollars, officials have said.
However, the price tag for a premium project -- complete with multiple tournament-quality softball and baseball fields, year-round sports pavilions, a soccer field, amphitheater and more -- would cost an estimated $16 million.
That's a hard pill to swallow given the city is trying to fill a $5 million shortfall in its two-year operating budget and has made budget cuts that included employee layoffs or leaving vacant positions unfilled.
Councilman Paul Parish said the council and others in the city would like to see the premium project realized, but there isn't the money for it at this time.
By spending the money for the infrastructure improvements -- grading the land and adding or relocating some sewer and water lines -- the city should be ready to take advantage of any positive economic changes or other opportunities, said Russ Burtner, Kennewick's municipal services director.
'Those kind of things happen, especially in athletics,' he said, referring to past projects in the city helped along with some money from the Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Seahawks.
In other council action:
The council agreed to spend $10,000 a month, plus expenses, for a federal lobbying firm. The investment is expected to result in millions of dollars in federal grants and other money for city projects. Richland has a similar contract with a federal lobbyist that has been successful.
The city is expected to bring online Friday its new-look Web site that will be better organized and easier to use than the current one. The city's Web site address is www.ci.kennewick.wa.us.
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