CVB Ponders Special Floor for Center

Bratcher says it could host sporting events

With no money in sight for building a 60,000-square-foot indoor sports facility that a study by Pinnacle Indoor Sports recommended this summer, the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau is looking for other ideas.

Jared Bratcher, sports marketing director for the CVB, told the board this week that he’s talking with Sport Court, a company that makes interlinking tiles that look like wood but are made of recycled material that is easier on athlete’s joints, to determine the feasibility of using the product to cover the concrete floors in the Owensboro Convention Center for volleyball and basketball events.

He said the company hasn’t quoted a price yet, but he believes it would be in the $200,000 to $250,000 range.

 

There’s enough room in the convention center for nine volleyball courts and three basketball courts, Bratcher said.

He said the company offers a lease-to-buy option.

Tiles with a sponsor’s logo can be added to the floors during tournaments, Bratcher said.

The tiles would be laid down before each tournament and then removed until the next one.

The product could also be used for outdoor events, Bratcher said.

Bratcher said there are a number of volleyball and basketball events

that want to come to Owensboro but can’t find enough courts.

“The need is there in a big way,” he said. “Volleyball has really blown up.”

Bratcher said, “Owensboro has as good a reputation for sporting events as any city in the country.”

In the past, the convention center hasn’t been able to attract sporting events of any size because of a lack of bleacher seating.

But Bratcher said only the opening rounds of volleyball and basketball tournaments would be at the convention center.

The final rounds would move to the Sportscenter, he said.

At the convention center, he said, folding chairs would be set up along the sides of the courts.

“We could probably seat 50 people at each,” Bratcher said. “It would probably be mostly parents and siblings at that point.”

He said, “This is a big deal.”

The board is waiting to find the actual cost of the project before making a decision and to see if any companies want to help sponsor the floor.

Messenger-Inquirer article written by Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, [email protected]