If you build it, they will come

Developers are ready to knock it out of the park after announcing their intentions Wednesday morning to build an estimated $32 million tournament-style softball complex in Newton, expecting to break ground by fall this year.

Pitched as a “one-of-a-kind, multi-use project” by the private investment team Project Fastpitch, the 300,000-square-foot indoor facility will be located on the vacant, 70-acre parcel of land between Iowa Speedway and Interstate 80. Included in the site plan are four indoor fields and 12 outdoor fields, all of which are anticipated to meet NCAA standards.

Troy Strawhecker, a team member of Project Fastpitch, described the complex as the “first of its kind in the country,” noting the idea to create the facility originated from Coach Marty Maynes’ experiences traveling with his daughters to softball tournaments 20 times a year and their worries that events might cancel or be cut short due to inclement weather.

The Project Fastpitch softball complex, Strawhecker claimed, is a solution to that problem, acknowledging the four indoor fields could be used year round regardless of weather conditions.

Several parking lots surround the complex, which is expected to attract a quarter of a million visitors to Newton, according to a press release from Project Fastpitch. The main building is sequestered between two sets of outdoor field areas that contain five fields each; the remaining two fields are located south of the indoors facility and face Rusty Wallace Drive.

Developments for hotels, restaurants and other supporting retail stores are included in the site plan. At this time, Strawhecker said investors are in preliminary discussions for one, unnamed hotel, which would include 120 rooms. However, there are three other hospitality sites included in the plan.

All 16 softball fields will be equipped with eco-friendly artificial turf, which Project Fastpitch team members say would allow teams to play within minutes after a very large rainstorm and eliminate any worries of tournament cancellations.

“We are going to absolutely drive a ton of traffic to central Iowa over the course of the years. Youth sports is a very, very large business,” Strawhecker added, citing a study that determined nine out of the 26 youth sports are growing while others are in decline. “One of those nine is girls fastpitch softball.”

An expanding sport

Marty Maynes’ daughter, Caitlin Maynes, who plays for the Iowa Blitz fastpitch softball team, said the sport continues to grow in interest, both from a players’ and spectators’ perspective. The fast-paced and highly competitive games make for an entertaining watch.

"Especially the levels that are going to be played on these fields," she said. "It's going to be huge. Everyone is really, really excited for it. This will be the nicest field we've ever played on and (it has) the most fields. Having four indoor fields is a big deal."

Laila Pelds, who also plays for the Iowa Blitz, said the biggest complex the team has played was equipped with eight fields. The Project Fastpitch facility doubles that. Pelds and Maynes anticipate the complex will also propel the sport forward, noting it would be an ideal place for scouts to find new players.

Caitlin Maynes said, “It’s a huge recruiting advantage for us now.”

Project Fastpitch is anticipating to have five to six full-time staff members with a number of part-time positions at the softball complex. Preliminary talks with an event management company may bring even more staff.

Investors said the state-of-the-art softball complex will be built with an emphasis on technology. Marty Maynes said a streaming system will be installed to allow coaches from across the country to watch a game “without ever leaving their office,” which he claimed will elevate the facility to the national level even though it is based in small town Iowa.

Also serving as director of Project Fastpitch, Maynes suggested the turf will be cooler to play on, noting the artificial fields will not be filled with rubber and absorb as much heat.

“The dirt will play exactly like dirt, the grass will play exactly like grass. It is unlike any other softball field anywhere in the country,” Maynes said. “Beyond that, our goal is to make this the best experience for the player, the coach, the family, grandma and grandpa — we want people to come back to this facility three, four, five times a year.

“In fact,” he continued, “I would hope that players would walk away and say, ‘I really don’t want to play anywhere else. Can we play there every weekend?’”

When pressed if the facility will be used strictly for fastpitch softball, Maynes said Project Fastpitch’s goal with complex is to be great at one thing: hosting national-level, phenomenal softball events.

“We’re not trying to be the jack-of-all-trades,” he said. “We do have the opportunity to do some youth baseball if the opportunity presented itself. But our goal is to provide a facility for young ladies playing softball.”

Laying the groundwork

Newton Mayor Mike Hansen could hardly contain his excitement during the Wednesday press conference at the Iowa Speedway media center, exclaiming to everyone in attendance: “Welcome to Newton, everybody! Do you see me smiling up here?”

The City of Newton and its partners, Hansen said, have had a long-term vision of an entertainment and tourism destination for the area ever since the development of Iowa Speedway in the mid-2000s. Project Fastpitch “would not have happened here in Newton without all the infrastructure that’s in place today,” he added.

“Once again our hard work has paid off,” Hansen said. “To be part of Project Fastpitch — that will bring tens of thousands of folks here to get to know Newton each year — is truly exciting and will have an extraordinary positive impact on our community for generations to come.”

Plans to develop the Project Fastpitch softball complex in Newton has been a two-and-a-half year endeavor, according to investors. However, signs of an incoming development appeared as early as last week — when the Newton City Council approved the creation of a new urban renewal area to facilitate future prospects — and seemingly as far back as 2014.

According to reports from the Newton Daily News at the time, Strawhecker proposed the creation of a Reinvestment District in relatively the same area as the state-of-the-art softball facility. Included in the proposal by Premier Development was an 80-room, limited service hotel and 260,000 square feet of retail space.

In May, the Newton City Council voted in favor of increasing the maximum building height from 35 feet to 80 feet in the C-T: Tourism Oriented Commercial District near exit 168 of Interstate 80, seemingly to allow for any future developments. Staff claimed the previous height restrictions were hindering economic development prospects, notably hotels.

Currently, Strawhecker said, not all of the money is in place to build the $32 million facility but Project Fastpitch “will be shopping for the loan product, which should be a pretty good portion of that.” However, the equity is in place. Strawhecker added that the investment group is still waiting for city approvals to drill out a final budget, anticipating that will be completed in the next 30 to 45 days.

It is rare that smaller communities, such as Newton, are even considered “for projects like this,” Hansen said, but the city has been blessed once again. He thanked investors for having the confidence in Newton to locate and operate a youth sports facility in the county seat town of roughly 15,000 people.

“I’m looking forward to that first pitch celebration,” Hansen said.

Economic & tourism impact

On average, Maynes and his team anticipate Project Fastpitch will host 32 tournament weekends per year, ranging from shorter two- to three-day tourneys or elongated four- to six-day competitions. Roughly 120 to 125 teams will compete in each tournament cycle.

Factoring in players, coaches and families traveling with the team, Strawhecker estimated each softball team could be bringing with it 30 people to Newton — or about 3,750 people altogether every weekend. The complex could generate “a staggering stat” of more than 150,000 new room nights per year in Central Iowa.

“That’s a powerful impact,” Strawhecker said, noting the nearby communities in Jasper County and certainly the eastern portions of the Des Moines metro area could see a strong economic return. According to statistics he provided from the U.S. Census Bureau, about 33 million people live within a 300-mile drive from Newton.

Sen. Zach Nunn, R-Bondurant, who was accompanied by Rep. Wes Breckenridge, D-Newton, described the project as a “perfect ‘Field of Dreams’ scenario” and highlighted its guaranteed play thanks to four indoor fields as a strong benefit to Newton and the surrounding communities.

“We’re doing this in a way that no other state (or) any other community in the country is doing today, and within the next 12 months you’re going to see the benefits of that reaped at an unprecedented location,” Nunn said.

Located in close proximity to the racetrack, the inclusion of the softball complex will seemingly create a “sports district” in Newton. Iowa Speedway President David Hyatt anticipated there will be a strong relationship between the racetrack and softball complex.

Hyatt said in a statement, “Development like this provides many benefits to our city and to Central Iowa. Newton and our extended region offer numerous high-level recreation attractions, including our world-class Iowa Speedway as well as the playing fields, parks and historic venues dotted around the area. Creating events to draw more tourism to the area is sure to provide benefits to our race fans and other visitors alike.”

Craig Armstrong, economic development specialist for the City of Newton, said a wide range of businesses will be broadly impacted by the softball complex and the visitors it attracts. What is equally exciting, he added, is the project’s capabilities of encouraging other development in the surrounding area.

“This was designed as a tourism, destination and retail area,” Armstrong said. “Using that and building on that and the new softball facility gives a true life story. This isn’t lights, mirrors and smoke. To have evidence beats objections. There’s my evidence. People are going to be here. Something will happen almost daily in this area.”

No commitment has been made to use taxpayer dollars to construct the facility. Hansen said he is “proud to tell everybody” that “not one red cent of their property tax dollars will go towards this project.” Instead, the incentive in this project will come directly from the taxes generated from the softball complex itself.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com