Pulaski County, in a unique regional move, is creating a sports and entertainment political subdivision to try to take better advantage of such opportunities.
The Pulaski County Sports Tourism & Entertainment Authority was approved by the board of supervisors, and the authority will help administer and manage such county facilities and assets and promote events, according to a news release.
The supervisors also appointed the first members to the authority, which include former Virginia Tech assistant football coach Bud Foster.
“This is a historic undertaking by the Board of Supervisors to strategically set up a unique authority dedicated to effectuate our sports tourism and entertainment vision, and I am confident it will serve its intended purpose to advance sports tourism and entertainment for the benefit of the county, our citizens and our businesses,” said County Administrator Jonathan Sweet.
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The former Motor Mile Speedway and dragway and 152 acres were officially donated to Pulaski County in April — not a typical happening in municipal circles.
The creation of the authority comes after the Shelor Motor Mile auto dealership announced in April that it was donating the speedway property it owned and the historic Calfee Park to Pulaski County.
The donation is the largest gift the county has ever received. The speedway, now named Pulaski County Motorsports Park and Event Center, is a 152-acre property located in Fairlawn, while Calfee Park is a 3,200-seat stadium in the town of Pulaski. The county is now discussing the creation of a premier sportsplex as well.
Historic Calfee Park was donated to Pulaski County by Shelor Motor Mile in April.
“Sports tourism is one of the biggest opportunities in Southwestern Virginia for Pulaski County to capture latent market share,” Sweet said.
The authority will provide management services and oversight for the county’s sports, recreation, entertainment and event assets. The authority will also oversee and facilitate future public and private investments.
In addition to the speedway and Calfee Park, other venues may include components of Randolph Park, the New River Valley Fairgrounds and the proposed Pulaski County Indoor Sportsplex and Expo Center with the potential for an estimated aggregate value of more than $80 million, according to the release.
“Our exponential growth of our sports and entertainment assets, as well as the diversity and scale of our facilities, warrants a specialized and strategic focus to optimize these properties for the maximum benefit to both our citizens and our business community”, said board of supervisors Chairwoman Laura Walters. “This approach to enterprising these public assets should yield a greater return to our county coffers, and make it more sustainable, as well as provide a better experience for our citizens, create greater demand for our hospitality, tourism and service industries, and bolster our small business and retail operations.”
Some of the authority’s initial objectives identified by the board of supervisors are to pursue the development of budget, establish the necessary operational structures and agreements, prepare marketing and business plans, and to create the branding of the authority.
When asked if the goal is for the authority to become self-sustaining, Sweet, in an email, wrote “that would be ideal.”
Continuing, he wrote: “But these assets will also be used for Parks and Recreation, county club programming, and other community functions, so they’ll be a direct benefit to the county and it citizens and there is value in that, so they’re not going to solely be utilized for commercial purposes. They’ll be enterprised and commercially optimized when county functions aren’t taking place. So the commercial revenue enjoyed from the capacity of the facilities will be reinvested in overhead and operations, which ultimately should significantly subsidize both operations and community use.”
In addition to Foster, the other members of the first authority board include: Angela Joyner of Radford University, Kevin Meredith of New Roads Mindset, Ashley Coake of Cultivate Financial, Amber Clark of New River Community College and Missy Gentry of The Shelor Group.
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