Ellensburg Fieldhouse Project (003)

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however there are two volleyball clubs based in the community. With this added capacity the local clubs have the necessary infrastructure to run tournaments throughout the winter and spring. 2. Tourism Benefit Explain how this infrastructure project will support tourism in Kittitas County. Include specific details on how it will attract tourists, improve visitor experiences, and enhance the county's appeal as a destination. As previously mentioned, the tourism impact from this project is twofold. A fieldhouse of this size, providing multiple courts for volleyball and basketball, will draw tournaments to Ellensburg and Kittitas County. An added benefit is that many of these tournaments will take place during the winter and early spring months, when tourism rates and impact are substantially down. According to the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce, over the last three years, the average number of overnight hotel visits between April to October is 32,100 visits per month, as a comparison, the average number of overnight visits between the months of November to March is 18,200 visits per month. There is capacity within our local hotels to accommodate additional events in our community. Additionally, the fieldhouse project will include the buildout of additional parking at Rotary Park. Although there are over 380 parking stalls currently at Rotary Park, one large event will fill the parking lots beyond capacity. The additional fieldhouse parking will provide the necessary infrastructure for multiple large-scale activities to take place concurrently at the park because there will be adequate parking to support these events. The city turns away tournaments and events because there isn't sufficient parking to support two events taking place at the same time. The Kittitas County Tourism Study, completed by Arnett Muldrow, identifies the need for sports tourism infrastructure as a tourism opportunity for Kittitas County and recommends prioritizing the development of an indoor sports/recreation center that can support tournaments, events, and visitors in Ellensburg. The proximity and ease to drive to Ellensburg attracts teams from Eastern Washington as well as Western Washington, especially those in the Puget Sound area. In the spring/summer of 2025, the city hosted 12 youth baseball tournaments at Rotary Park. According to tournament organizers, over 50% of those teams traveled greater than two hours to play in Ellensburg. Additionally, tournaments had large waitlists of teams wanting to play in Ellensburg. Teams love traveling to Ellensburg because it's easy and accessible, a perfect central location for tournaments.