The City of Owensboro is looking to hire one group to manage the future indoor sports facility in addition to the Convention Center and Sportscenter. City Manager Nate Pagan said having one would eliminate any potential competition among the facilities, and would also keep the City’s Parks Department from having to deal with staffing the venues.
The Convention Center and Sportscenter are currently both managed by OVG360. Pagan said the City is choosing to opt out of their agreement with OVG360 because simply adding the indoor sports facility is “too big of a change” to the agreement.
Pagan said the opt-out is not reflective of the work that OVG has done, but marks an “opportune time” to find ways to incorporate the third facility.
Additionally, because the City is accepting bids to find the right management group, OVG360 can apply with a new agreement and could be chosen.
The indoor sports facility was originally expected to be managed by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department. However, Pagan said the City was worried about the amount of work that would be required to staff the facility.
“The third-party management group has a lot easier time hiring part-time staff, and we knew the Parks Department already hires 70 or so part-time people for mowing grass, maintenance work at golf courses, lifeguards, camp counselors. I didn’t want to put any more of a burden on them to hire more part-time folks,” Pagan said.
He added that having a third-party operator also allows the venues to coordinate more efficiently and without competing for the same events. Specifically, Pagan said if a larger tournament were to come in, organizers could more easily utilize any combination of the appropriate facilities.
Site work on the indoor sports facility has largely been completed, and plans call for the construction bidding process to open in June 2023, according to the latest City Projects update. Construction could begin this August, with an estimated completion in December 2024.
