Group aims to build multimillion dollar domed sports complex in Mat-Su Valley

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - A local group is aiming to build a state-of-the-art, multimillion dollar, privately owned multi-use sports complex in the Mat-Su Valley.

The project, dubbed the PaCoWa Sports Center, would include a turf field enclosed in a dome, accompanied by a large building fit for an athletic club and retail outlet.

&#8220We're looking at the Valley and something we really need here,” said Rob Fitch, who alongside partner Ray Sawyer, is a principal organizer of this project. &#8220We're looking at all different sports.”

Sawyer came up with the name PaCoWa to incorporate Palmer, Colony and Wasilla into its title. The Palmer, Colony and Wasilla athletic programs would among the groups targeted for significant use of this facility, he said.

Fitch and Sawyer each have children currently participating in various Mat-Su sports. Each are heavily involved with Valley athletics, and have long envisioned a time when Valley athletes would have access to a multi-use domed complex.

The dome, Fitch said, could be compared to the indoor golf driving range in South Anchorage.

Fitch said, considering Alaska's climate and the lack of significant access to indoor facilities in the area, it is time to build this type of complex in the Valley. Fitch and Sawyer have drafted a business plan, and have already began the search for investors for this $10 to $12 million project.

Fitch said the response has been so good, he is confident this project can be started in the near future.

&#8220We would like to be breaking ground by the end of this year, and have it going by late September next year,” Fitch said. &#8220That's if the stars align and everything goes right.”

Fitch and Sawyer have already started looking at potential sites for the facility, targeting plots of land that are at least 15 acres and centrally located in the Valley. Each stressed the importance for this to be a Valley project. Fitch said there are local businesses capable of doing much of the construction, and, in a perfect world, he'd like the investors to have an interest in they Valley.

&#8220This is a Valley project,” Sawyer said.

This is an idea that's been in the back of the minds of Fitch and Sawyer for quite some time, but they became more motivated to make this dream a reality as they watched their sons compete in an informal seven-on-seven football league during the winter at the Wasilla Multi-use Sports Complex.

&#8220It was 18 below zero outside and inside these kids were catching footballs in their shorts,” Sawyer said. &#8220Our vision is to have a year-round facility.”

The Wasilla Multi-use Sports Complex is the only facility in the Valley currently offering an indoor turf field.

What would separate this project from a facility such as the Wasilla Multi-use Sports Complex, Sawyer said, is its size and range for use.

PaCoWa would include a regulation-size turf field surrounded by an eight-lane quarter-mile composite track. Sawyer said the turf field and the composite track would both be state of the art.

But the biggest difference would be the addition of retail stores and businesses.

&#8220We started checking into how much a dome would cost and how we'd finance it, and that's when we came up with the idea of not only designing a sports complex, but also a retail complex,” Fitch said. &#8220Bring in groups like the Alaska Club or Sports Authority. It's going to be a one-stop place.”

The PaCoWa project is set in two phases. The first stage includes the dome and the building. Phase two could include a business park with restaurants and outdoor running trails.

Fitch said he would not only like PaCoWa to be a practice facility but a center that could host games.

&#8220We have shortened seasons up here for football, shortened seasons for soccer. Track and field starts in the cold,” Fitch said. &#8220We're thinking, what can we do to help the seasons go longer.”

The complex would include seating for fans. With removable bleachers, Sawyer estimated a facility this size could house as many as 12,000 spectators.

Fitch said he would like to host the late-season prep football games when temperatures start to dip, and the soccer games that are scheduled in the early spring when the outside fields are still too poor for use.

He would like to see the Valley host the high school state playoff games, and maybe even the state championship game indoors. They have even factored in the purchase of removable hardwood floors to accommodate sports such as basketball and volleyball.

But it would not end with the preps. Fitch said he would like to see the facility available to youth and adult teams not affiliated with the schools.

The potential use also goes beyond athletics, Sawyer said. He said the complex would host trade shows, and could even be used as a local disaster shelter.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.