Editorial: Indoor sports facility could attract more events to Rock Hill

Rock Hill’s state-of-the-art velodrome and BMX course at Riverwalk, its soccer fields at Manchester Meadows, its softball and soccer fields at Cherry Park, its new public tennis courts and even its disc golf course at Winthrop Lake contribute to a lucrative sports tourism industry in the city.

So, why stop there?

That is the argument of the Rock Hill Sports Commission and its chairman, former City Councilman John Gettys. He would like to see the city build a new indoor sports facility that could serve as a venue for a variety of events, including basketball and volleyball tournaments, cheerleading competitions, and other indoor sports activities such as wrestling, Pingpong, kickball, CrossFit or indoor batting practice.

Gettys argues that, while the city can fill the calendar with sporting events nine months out of the year, activity slows in the cold of January, February and March.

“We need an indoor facility for the lean months,” Gettys told the City Council last week.

While Rock Hill already is ahead of many cities in being able to use its outdoor facilities at least nine months out of the year, his suggestion makes sense. It is reasonable to expect that there are enough indoor athletic events to keep a sports center filled in the winter and, for that matter, throughout much of the rest of the year.

The commission has suggested that Knowledge Park near downtown Rock Hill would be an ideal site for the center. One reason would be the proximity to Winthrop University, which could use the facility for men’s and women’s basketball practice, volleyball practice and tournaments, even intramural sports.

We would hope, however, that Winthrop would not dominate use of the center. If it is a city complex managed and maintained by the city’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department as the commission has proposed, events scheduled by the city should take precedence, and the public should have ample access to the center.

Gettys notes that sports tourism has generated $131 million in economic impact for the city over the past 10 years. An array of tournaments and other events have drawn visitors who eat at local restaurants, stay at local hotels and shop at local stores.

The Sports Commission traveled to look at similar facilities in other cities in the region, including Indian Trail, N.C., and Myrtle Beach, which opened a $12.5 million, 100,000-square-foot sports center last year. The commission also studied complexes in cities around the nation, concluding that a similar facility could work here.

Sports tourism still has room to grow in Rock Hill, especially with future events scheduled at the Riverwalk cycling complex. At some point, the city might reach a saturation point for sporting events, but we are not close to that point yet.

We think a new indoor complex could fill a niche and complement the other sporting facilities in the city. And one located at Knowledge Park would be another significant attraction drawing visitors to the city’s historic downtown district.

The City Council has authorized city staff to review the proposal with an eye toward opening the complex by September 2017. The city will have to carefully consider all the angles, but the proposal appears to have merit.

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Editorial: Indoor sports facility could attract more events to Rock Hill."