Kristin Anderson / Vail Daily
Summit County and the towns of Breckenridge, Frisco and Silverthorne announced Wednesday that they had concluded a Community Fieldhouse Feasbility study to gauge public support and financial feasibility of building an indoor sports complex. Based upon the study findings, the towns and the county have determined that the fieldhouse concept is not feasible at this time.
Study and survey results revealed that the capital and operational costs of even the most limited fieldhouse concept far outpaced the community’s willingness to fund it. Out of 2,100 unique household addresses in Summit County that were randomly selected to receive the mail survey, 463 responded. 48% of respondents indicated they would support the development of a new indoor sports complex if it included the amenities that were most important to them personally.
The most desired amenities were an indoor walking track and artificial turf field. Respondents indicated they would prefer to pay for the new facility through a lodging tax, with strong opposition toward increasing property taxes, indicating that the community does not support paying for an indoor sports complex with their own tax dollars. In the online opt-in survey, 1,976 interested residents responded; 71% supported paying for the new facility through a lodging tax, with strong opposition to increasing property taxes. Analysis of the various proposed amenities indicated that probable construction costs for an indoor sports complex, not including financing costs, would range from $15 million to $35 million.