KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo is taking steps towards the creation of a new youth sports complex, set to be located on an undeveloped patch of land off West Main and U.S. 131, near two Holiday Inn Express locations.
The complex will cover an estimated 150,000 square feet and aims to provide new opportunities for local youth.
Corey Person, a leader with United Pursuit Basketball, expressed his excitement for the project.
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“I’m super excited. I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for the youth, a lot of the youth, and give our community and our area a lot of new opportunities that we haven’t had in recent years. To be able to help a lot of the youth achieve the goals that they’re trying to do,” Person said.
Person is set to become a board member overseeing the project.
Brian Persky, Director of Business Development with Discover Kalamazoo, noted that the next step involves presenting recommended board members to the Kalamazoo County Commission on Tuesday.
“We are recommending the appointment of 9 of the 11 authority members that’ll serve on this authority,” Persky said.
He emphasized the authority board's role in managing the project. “The authority board oversees the project as a whole. They are responsible stewards of those dollars, and how it gets spent,” Persky said.
In April, local hotel owners allocated a 4% assessment to help fund the sports complex. The goal is to boost business in Kalamazoo.
Person highlighted the community’s need for more sports space.
“I just hope to be able to give a lot of insight as to what’s going on currently in the community and just what the needs are, and just try to best serve those issues that we’re having with lack of space as best as we can," Person said.
Persky also provided an update on the project timeline.
“There hasn’t been a shovel in the ground yet, but we’re still on track— we’ve hit all of our deadlines to this point. We remain very optimistic that we’re going to continue to hit those deadlines. Our goal is to have it open by 2027.”
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