Nonprofit tells Kane County cross-country track plan would be successful
When a June report showed a possible six-figure annual loss for the proposed cross-country facility at the old Settler's Hill landfill, it seemed like Kane County officials were ready to trash the project. But promises made by a local nonprofit had county board members recycling the idea Tuesday.
The county and forest preserve district have been exploring the idea of creating a cross-country track on Settler's Hill for the past several years. It's just one of many ideas for redeveloping the 700-acre Fabyan Parkway campus into a regional attraction.
In addition to the engineering logistics of creating the course, the facility met its largest hurdle when a financial feasibility study showed it would operate at a deficit of between $50,000 and $146,000 each of its first 10 years of existence.
But representatives from the Chicago Area Track and Field Organizing Committee presented a business model Tuesday that erases those projected deficits.
The facility could operate in the black by the fourth year if the county allowed the group to manage the scheduling, marketing and events for the track, according to Al Edgecombe's projections.
Edgecombe, a Batavia resident, is secretary of the Chicago Area Track and Field Organizing Committee. The group has several decades of history with track and field sports at the high school, college and national levels.
The group's business model would see it keep all the rental income from the use of the facility. In trade, there would be no staffing costs incurred to operate the track other than mowing, maintenance and general security.
The forest preserve district would still reap profits from concessions, parking and whatever sponsorships or naming rights the group can collaborate.
Even with all that in place, the facility would operate at a deficit of as much as $33,000 a year in the first three years. From then on, the facility should draw a modest profit of up to $14,000 a year.
That's not counting any sales tax revenue that may flow to the county from the number of people using the facility or attending as spectators.
"We think this has an opportunity to be an asset for the local high schools, the local colleges," Edgecombe told county board members. "Anything beyond that is gravy."
But the group is interested in gravy. They believe promoting the facility as a place for one-stop shopping for cross-country events, which also costs less than what local schools and colleges pay now, will be all that's needed to attract events.
Edgecombe cited quotes from coaches and athletic directors at St. Charles East High School, Wheaton North High School, Northwestern University and North Central College as evidence of support for the facility. Edgecombe predicted five events in the first year are a virtual lock and 12 events by the 10th year.
Most county board members said they were optimistic about the potential of the proposal after it receives some fine tuning in conjunction with the forest preserve district. Even county board member T.R. Smith, who has been perhaps the biggest doubter of the plan, said he was surprised by the momentum the project now seems to have.
"First we came up with a report that said this is not going to work out, but now it looks like it's going to be hell or high water, and we're going to go with this thing," Smith said.
Board member Drew Frasz said the eventual sales tax income, as well as the potential six-figure profits of operating a temporary clean fill operation at the site during its construction, make the project worth investigating further.
"We also have a decades-old agreement with the city of Geneva," Frasz said. "The promise was always that we would do something exciting and unique when that landfill was done. I'm optimistic."