Zone Change Is Sought For Sports World

Developers will go to bat for a sprawling, multifacility sports complex in Liberty Lake during a March 23 zoning hearing.

Called Sports World, the 32-acre fitness center near Interstate 90 will feature four outdoor soccer fields, a four-field softball complex, indoor soccer arena, health club, restaurant and sports bar.

The privately-funded facility may even house a “Rollerblade hockey arena” by the time it’s completed in the spring of 1996, a Sports World partner said.

Buoyed by community support, developers are confident they will acquire zone reclassifications and start construction by spring. They have already received approval from Pacific Gas to put soccer and softball facilities atop a pipeline.

“If you were just going by the planning department rules and regulations, it isn’t supposed to be there,” said Rand Hatch, a developer with an interest in Sports World.

“And yet in practicality, it really does fit a need for the community and on a regional basis. This is the kind of private enterprise that will take some pressure off the parks department,” Hatch said.

The facility could eventually team up with a sports complex in Post Falls to co-host state and regional tournaments.

The complex, which will employ 60 people, will be accessible by Harvard Road and Centennial Trail. Located across the street from a sewer plant, the property is surrounded by land owned by Inland Empire Paper Co.

Concerned that the facility might generate an onslaught of traffic, developers have been working with the state Department of Transportation to expand Country Vista Drive and some side roads.

Rob Lewis, Sports World’s leading partner, is the founder of Spokane Structures, a company that specializes in post-framed buildings. Other developers include Jim Frank of Greenstone Development, and Townsend Consulting, affiliated with the Quad Park in Post Falls. Howard Herman of Opportunity owns the property in a family trust.