The city of East Ridge is making plans to capitalize on the 275-acre Camp Jordan Park and its recreational and economic development potential. At a special meeting of the city council on Thursday night, the council members heard presentations from three consulting firms in reference to a sports facilities study of the park for making it a destination for tournaments. One of the firms, Sports Facilities Companies based in Clearwater, Florida, would partner with local Barge Designs for engineering, architectural and landscape architecture services. Hunden Partners from Chicago would work with Lose Design and VICTUS Advisors based in Park City Utah would partner with Regan Smith and tinker ma for engineering and design work.
The company that is chosen will guide East Ridge in the process of assessing the existing infrastructure at Camp Jordan and deciding what is still viable as well as determining and prioritizing improvements and additions that would be needed. Mayor Brian Williams said it will be important to balance local use with tournament use.
The approaches to developing a plan will include analyzing the city and the region regarding the local demographic plus those who would be traveling to tournaments and where they come from. Camp Jordan is considered to be within a five-six-hour drive for sporting events, and that would affect the number of visitors, who book hotel rooms and use restaurants and stores and contribute to the economic impact that an improved and expanded sports facilities could have. It was noted that the surrounding towns would also benefit if the visitors left East Ridge for food and lodging. A market analysis would also include knowing the local and regional competitive landscape for holding tournaments After surveying local users of the park and interviewing out of town tournament planners, these consultants could also advise the city about what is missing at the park.
The consulting firms after doing a site analysis of the existing facilities would consider the financial side of development costs for building to determine what is feasible and what is not. Then expansion recommendations, layouts and cost estimates would be provided as part of their services. And the consultants would prioritize projects.
The firms giving the presentations, varied with additional services they offered, with one specializing in operating the facilities once they were developed and another offering sports tourism advice for the parks that they revamp. The third is primarily a consulting firm with a goal of determining the viability of creating a park to attract sports tournaments and making recommendations on the development and cost side.
The meeting on Thursday was strictly to hear the presentations and what the companies can offer to East Ridge. There was no discussion and no decisions were made.
Mayor Williams announced that the next regular commission meeting on Oct. 12 has been cancelled.