mLive, Michigan, August 3, 2023

ROCKFORD, MI – The West Michigan Sports Commission announced Thursday during a private event at the Meijer Sports Complex that a $1 million gift by Meijer was the catalyst to additional donations, bringing the total fundraised amount to $5.8 million of the needed $11 million for the project.

Based on funding to date, some elements of the project could begin in late 2023, officials said.

Speaking to media and donor executives at the Meijer Sports Complex Championship Field, officials talked about fundraising updates for the expansion, including the championship-level softball field, 20 pickleball courts, a new concession building, 300 additional parking spaces, and more.

Also announced were donors who have pledged in response to Meijer’s gift, including DeVos Family Foundations, Mercantile Bank, Mary Free Bed Guild, the WMSC board and Winning Streak campaign cabinet, and more.

“If you’re here on a busy weekend, just the impact that it can have on the community, I think really shows,” Shawn Buckner, regional vice president of Meijer, told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. “That’s what we’re all about, is how we really interest the communities that we serve. There are more things that are inclusive, like adding softball fields and pickleball. It’s key to continuously keep an active community as well.”

WMSC President Mike Guswiler also spoke at the event about the Meijer gift to further improve and expand the Meijer Sports Complex. He said that it opened the floodgates.

“For Meijer to support us and become a naming rights partner is a big leap for them,” Guswiler said. “They want to expand what we’re doing, wanted to make a greater impact. It’s about equity and bringing more women’s sports to the table, about bringing more age groups through pickleball and then sustaining our disabled youth and adults through the Miracle Field.”

He said he hopes that the milestones and ribbon cuttings along the way will get more donors in the community on board.

“The community impact is multiple,” Guswiler told MLive. “We’re excited about what it has brought to the table through a multi-pronged impact and what this additional expansion improvement will do in the future.”

Lance Parrish, former Tigers player and the campaign’s ambassador of baseball, also spoke about how the expansion project will bring added benefit to the community and West Michigan youth.

“It provides opportunities for our youngsters and adults, but more importantly, I think the youth of our country need outlets like this just to get outside and do anything,” Parrish said. “To be involved in baseball, which I spent my life playing, naturally, I’m excited to be a part of it.”

The WMSC launched the $11 million A Winning Streak for West Michigan capital campaign in October 2022 to improve and expand its flagship Meijer Sports Complex, 3310 10 Mile Rd., which opened in 2014 with eight baseball and softball fields, a championship baseball field and Nate Hurwitz Miracle League Field.

Costing $7.5 million and funded through private donations, the complex has cumulatively attracted 148 travel events, 7,500 teams and 243,750 visitors, for a total economic impact for Kent County of $52 million in direct visitor spending.

With the new expansion campaign, officials expect to accommodate 200 more teams annually and net an additional $1 million in annual visitor spending. The anticipated improvements of the sports complex include the following:

• A new championship softball field for youth, amateurs and collegiate softball – featuring synthetic turf, grandstands, lighting, covered dugouts, and a press box.
• Three flexible-use diamond fields for youth and amateur baseball and softball as well as collegiate softball, with covered dugouts and bleachers.
• 20 pickleball courts, including a championship court.
• Resurfacing of the Miracle Field.
• New concession building, new restroom facility and expanded storage facility.
• Canopies over all bleacher seating.
• Synthetic turf installed on the existing championship baseball field.
• 300 additional parking spaces.

Additionally, $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars was allocated by the Kent County Board of Commissioners, and Congresswoman Hillary Scholten got $750,000 for the expansion in community project funding from the House Committee on Appropriations for fiscal year 2024.

The first-term congresswoman said every year, members of Congress have a chance to select 15 projects in their community for special line item direct funding through the House. She said she “knows the power of sports” in her own life, saying sports were a lifeline during the pandemic.

“To me, the power of sports, bringing our community together and empowering our young people can’t be overstated,” she said. “We saw during the pandemic a dramatic spike in health problems and an acute mental health crisis in the younger generation. You’re networking with individuals, you’re creating those bonds, you’re creating healthy habits that can push back against mental health challenges.”

Construction on the expansion will begin as early as this fall on the improvement portion of the project, including installing synthetic turf on the championship field, resurfacing the Miracle Field and adding 300 parking spaces.

WMSC plans to officially break ground for the new championship field in early 2024 following additional fundraising efforts.

More information can be found at westmisports.com/winningstreak.

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Source: mLive, Michigan
https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2023/08/11m-meijer-sports-complex-halfway-to-fundraising-goal-building-20-pickleball-courts.html