Pasco offers $13M and +100-year-old park to own Road 68 ballfields
The Pasco City Council will consider tonight paying Franklin County $13 million to own the large soccer and softball complex surrounding Gesa Stadium. As part of the deal, it’s also offering to give up Volunteer Park.
The park in the heart of downtown is across North Fourth Avenue from the historic Franklin County Courthouse.
The park has been a key place for candle-light memorial vigils and protests, including the 2015 rallies demanding justice for the fatal police shooting of Antonio Zambrano. In recent years, it’s been a gathering spot for homeless residents.
The city is considering including it in the deal with the county to get 45 acres with the 15 large soccer fields and six softball diamonds called the Pasco Sporting Complex off Interstate 182, according to documents in the agenda for this week’s meeting.
Pasco has leased the soccer complex for more than 30 years. During that time, the city has invested at least $4 million in taxpayer money to build the fields.
But for the last two years the city and county have been extending an interim agreement for its use as they discussed whether a new long-term contract made sense.
Earlier this year, the county asked Pasco to determine the park’s current value.
Initially, Pasco offered to pay $8.1 million in cash for the complex., according to a newly released letter. The amount was calculated last April by Epic Land Solutions, a company hired by the city.
After more closed-door negotiations, the council will consider paying nearly $5 million more in cash than the previous offer to make the deal happen, according to the staff report.
Pasco council members’ will discuss this new offer suggested by city staff at its meeting Monday, June 15, at 6:30 p.m.
What Franklin County could do with Volunteer Park?
Franklin County commissioners haven’t said why want Volunteer Park.
But in recent meetings, they have said they need more space for employees, making construction of a new office building a possibility.
Employees from the planning department have had to work in offices near the airport that the county leases from the Port of Pasco. The separation of services from Benton County has increased the county’s need for more office space.
Another sign of interest in building office space is the creation of a new human services department and having to find more space in the county courthouse for its new juvenile services staff.
If the council likes the deal, negotiations will continue and the city must decide where the money will come from.
Pasco Sporting Complex has a significant economic impact on the city because restaurants, retail stores, HAPO Center, Gesa Stadium, and other venues are located nearby, generating nearly $6 million annually for the city.
The complex’s soccer fields are also important to the community, which organizes soccer tournaments and games every week, as well as soccer classes for children and teens.
“Any disruption to facility operations would result in cancellation of contracted future events, loss of tourism revenue, and long-term reputational harm that would jeopardize the City’s ability to attract tournament business in years to come,” says the resolution about the sale.
