Sports USA facility on the market
Sports USA is for sale for $4.2 million, after a tentative agreement with a group that included Telect Inc. founder Bill Williams fell through.
In the absence of a sports-minded buyer with deep pockets, the Liberty Lake facility could go the way of Planet Ice and other former sports facilities and become a warehouse or manufacturing plant.
Tim Welsh of Garco Construction, owner of the building, said initially there was interest from potential buyers who wanted the about-67,000-square-foot sports complex for commercial uses.
“I’d like to see it used for its intended purpose,” Welsh said.
The building, off of Barker Road in Liberty Lake, served as a youth basketball and volleyball facility for nearly two years.
Although Sports USA attracted a couple thousand basketball and volleyball players every week, and played a key role in hosting regional tournaments, it closed last December when the group leasing the facility could no longer afford the payments.
The building was operated by Sports USA, a nonprofit, and Carlson and Associates LLC, under a lease agreement. Both organizations have since filed for bankruptcy protection.
Sports USA founder Kert Carlson, who put together the business plan and organized investors who paid for improvements such as flooring and nets, said the monthly costs averaged $68,000.
Carlson and Associates LLC spent about $2.5 million in improvements and short-term loans to keep the complex afloat, said Natalie Carlson, an investor and Carlson’s mother.
Many of 26 families who invested in the Carlson and Associates limited liability company are middle-class people who invested thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, in addition to volunteering at the complex, Natalie Carlson said.
They aren’t likely to walk away with much if any of their money after the bankruptcy is resolved, she said, but want to see the facility succeed as a legacy to local youth.
“Our intent was for the betterment of the community,” she said.
Although the bankruptcy has yet to be resolved, the lease has been abandoned and the facility and some surrounding acreage are now for sale.
Dick Edwards of Hawkins Edwards Inc., the company selling the complex, said with the lease abandoned there’s room for a buyer to step up. “We can move ahead,” he said.