Inside INdiana Business is reporting that the city of Westfield estimates that it has lost $85 million in revenue due to the closing of Grand Park Sports Campus. Our partners at WISH-TV report that Grand Park, now in its sixth season, would have been a destination for 2.5 million people coming into the central Indiana area this summer.
The 400-acre park holds 26 baseball and softball diamonds, 31 soccer or multipurpose fields. Surrounding hotels and restaurants depend on traffic generated by the park, which has become a kind of economic engine in Westfield.
“Its purpose was not to have an income from sports but to actually diversify our tax bases and build a tax base, and in this case, the tax base is tourism and youth sports,” said Westfield Mayor Andy Cook.
A special taxing district set up to finance the park generated just enough revenue last year to meet operational costs. Without visitors, this year is expected to be considerably different.
In an interview with News 8, Mayor Cook said most of the maintenance contracts for Grand Park have been canceled or postponed indefinitely. City crews are mowing the park grounds for the time being, and according to Mayor Cook, the park is operating in a maintenance mode only right now.
Grand Park is expected to reopen on June 1.