The Big Picture |
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Regional Sports Center in Springfield, Ore.
Kelli Anderson
The obvious word that hits you is "big" when you think about the soon-to-be-completed 120,000-square-foot Regional Sports Center in Springfield, Ore. But "big" doesn't just refer to the fact that it will be largest amateur sports facility in the Northwest. From initial conception to out-of-the-box programming, big thinking permeates everything they are and do.
The current 79,000-square-foot facility, comprised of a main gym and a south gym, reflects only two phases of a three-phase project, which is the brainchild of owner Roy Gray, the largest developer in Springfield and a veteran PE teacher of 30 years.
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| PHOTO COURTESY OF REGIONAL SPORTS CENTER |
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"The big-picture concept started in the late '80s," said Doug Knighton, executive director of the facility. "Roy wanted a fitness facility to bring in regional events to give our kids a chance to interact with people from surrounding states." With the ability to simultaneously host multiple sports tournaments like volleyball, hockey and lacrosse, attracting teams from Oregon and its neighboring states, that vision has become a reality.
The most notable feature of the third-phase completion will be its six wooden basketball courts. "It's the quality of the courts," explained Galen B. Ohmart, architect on the project with Solarc Architecture and Engineering of Eugene, Ore. "To invest in a court like this is unheard of. This is top-end quality—there are no soft spots or breakthroughs. The Trail Blazers have already indicated they want to train here for the quality of the facility."
Not only is their strategy bringing in sports teams far and wide, Gray has succeeded in bringing the community to their front door by building housing developments all around the property. Similarly, by leasing out offices and programming space to the county park and recreation department, even more community business is being generated.
"It all works together," Knighton said. "The park district can reach people because they're so big. We share information between us to benefit everyone as much as possible. They rent from us, and we get information and publicity and shared advertising from them." This kind of symbiotic relationship has been good for the community and good for business.
However, a smart business opportunity that Knighton said is often overlooked by other sports facilities are the benefits to be had from reaching out to the disabled community. "It's amazing that people won't invest to make them comfortable," he said. "A group we host put their request in at other facilities who thought it wouldn't make money, so they wouldn't look at it. It's not always about the money—it's about helping them |
Contrary to concerns about a financial loss if provisions are made to welcome the disabled, the Regional Sports Center has netted a profit even after providing discounted membership fees and purchasing additional equipment, such as the universal machine. They recently started a weight program for quadriplegics and paraplegics, and host transition programs for young adults who are mentally unable to live on their own.
"We got calls and e-mails when we got on the news," Knighton said, referring to the facility's outreach to these groups whom he described as belonging to a tight and tremendously networked demographic. Furthermore, when these groups do use their facilities, it is often during the slowest hours, and their few pieces of specialized equipment can readily be used by able-bodied members as well.
Although any facility can successfully accommodate the disabled to some degree, Knighton is quick to acknowledge that size has its benefits. "There's so much we can do because we have space," he said. "But the thing that's benefited me the most is I don't see courts—I see open space that can hold anything."
And he isn't kidding. After recently meeting the president of the Bocce Ball Association, he is tossing around the possibility of partnering with the park district and their senior community to create playable area with the simple addition of some carpet and balls with rings. From catering events like car shows to hosting roller derby and nonprofit auctions, having an open mind makes the facility truly multifunctional and multipurpose. "I can see what can be done," Knighton said. "And I see open space with bocce balls."
But Knighton also credits the facility's success to a recognition that relationships are important—relationships between business partners, between clients and between staff members. Shared codes of conduct like "you mess it up, you clean it up" are honored by staff at the front desk, in administration or supervising the gym.
Similarly, others who rent out the space, who might use their own gym supervisors and cleaners, are aware that if they want to rent the space again, they have to keep things clean. From volunteers to staff to renters, a sense of ownership helps ensure that everyone pulls their own weight and keeps things as they should be.
"It's a combination of everything," Knighton said. "It's good business to do feel-good stuff. If we're good to them, they're good to us. It's an investment in ourselves."
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