Chesterfield County to Purchase River City Sportsplex

Community Open House to be Held to View Property

Today at Chesterfield County’s Board of Supervisors work session an announcement was made about the county’s intent to purchase the 115 acre River City Sportsplex, formerly known as Sports Quest and currently owned and operated by Sports Complex Holdings LLC.

“This is a huge opportunity for the county residents to get more use of this facility and increase sports tourism,” said Dr. Joe Casey, county administrator. “With sports tourism being a growing business in Chesterfield, the upcoming community open house will give residents a chance to view the property and ask questions about the purchase and the future potential of the complex.”

A community open house for residents to ask questions about the planned purchase of the River City Sportsplex is scheduled for Nov. 2 at Clover Hill High School, in the Student Commons. Residents may come at any time to the school and the sports complex between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to ask questions and tour the facilities.

The county is offering Sports Complex Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Shaw Industries Group, Inc., $5.5 million to purchase the property. This is below the 2012 property’s appraised value of $17.2 million. Funds currently allocated for recreational development sports tourism will be used for the purchase.

The Board of Supervisors will vote whether to purchase the property at its Nov. 16 work session scheduled at 3 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room.

Local sports organizations and school teams use the facility heavily all year and are at capacity. With tournaments being held for field hockey, lacrosse and soccer throughout the year, Chesterfield County’s economic impact from sports tourism was $37.7 million in fiscal year 2016. This was a $12.9 million increase from the past fiscal year, with $7.1 million of that total a result of new sport tourism events. In tax revenue alone, the county received $1.4 million during that same time period.

“Shaw is pleased that the River City Sportsplex will continue to grow and benefit the community as the centerpiece of local sports tourism under the Chesterfield County’s ownership,” said Susan Farris, Director of Corporate Communications with Shaw Industries Group, Inc. “In the wake of the project as initially envisioned not coming to fruition, Shaw improved the complex and worked closely with the community to attract significant sports events and millions of dollars of economic impact to the greater Richmond area. We are pleased that the availability of a dozen Shaw Sports Turf fields in one location is – and will continue to be – a draw for large regional and national youth sports tournaments.”

The property is centrally located and there is easy access from the Interstate and major highway systems. Management and operations of the River City Sports Complex, if purchased, will be by the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Revenue from rental fees and tournament charges will be used to pay for the operating costs. The undeveloped portions of the property will allow for the expansion of the sports fields to meet future growth in the county along with the possibility of developing other compatible recreational facilities on the site.

In 2010, the county originally invested $4.3 million to assist in development of the complex and lease the use of eight lighted all-weather synthetic turf fields Monday thru Thursday. Currently, Chesterfield is in its sixth year of the 20 year lease. Purchasing River City Complex would provide the county seven day a week access providing the opportunity to increase resident’s use and grow sports tourism.

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