Kidsports ready to launch five-year fundraising effort

As featured speaker Tuesday at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Kidsports Director Dan Johns had some good news to share.

The Montana State Land Board that morning voted to approve the city of Kalispell’s $2.3 million purchase of a permanent easement for the nonprofit organization’s youth sports complex.

With that formality cleared, it should be a matter of exchanging paperwork and finalizing payment before a deal is done.

That will end four years of negotiations involving Kidsports, the city and the Montana Department of Natural Resources, all aimed at giving the youth sports facility a permanent home on school trust land it has leased through the city since 1996.

“I’m still waiting for the lady to start singing,” Johns said. “She’s not singing yet, but I’m waiting.”  

Johns shared a brief history of Kidsports and its volunteers, how old ball fields on city property in south Kalispell were sold for redevelopment and how new fields were built on school trust land in north Kalispell.

Over the last 15 years, $1 million in seed money from the city along with several million dollars in private donations and widespread community support have built 30 ball fields and one of Montana’s finest youth sports facilities.

It draws thousands of young athletes and their families to Kalispell every spring, summer and fall. “We’re doing things we couldn’t dream of doing in the past,” Johns said.

Kalispell and Kidsports are still working on a new memorandum of understanding to govern their relationship.

But with Kalispell agreeing to buy the easement with money from its Airport Tax Increment Finance District, Kidsports has set a goal to raise a matching $2.3 million over five years.

The money would be used to relocate and surface the cross-country track, build six to eight new fields, a new playground and shelter and more parking areas and access roads.

“Success has penalties. Congestion is one of those prices,” Johns said. “Little did we realize that mom has a car, dad has a car, grandparents have a car, aunts and uncles have a car. Every kid comes with about five vehicles and there is not enough parking.”

At the direction of some members of the Kalispell City Council, Kidsports also is looking at using some of that money to connect Four Mile Drive to Stillwater Road, a project estimated to cost more than $1 million.

But cost and right-of-way negotiations could complicate things.

The state of Montana has right-of-way in the area where it plans to build the northern half of the U.S. 93 Alternate Route. And some discussions have indicated the state would want any such city road to go over the planned bypass rather than through it with a roundabout.

KIDSPORTS IS still working on plans for that five-year fundraising drive and expects it to launch sometime in the next couple months, Johns said. But it got off to a good start anyway on Tuesday.

Accounting firm Jordahl & Sliter pledged to help kick-start the campaign with a $50,000 donation and encouraged everyone in the community to “give what they can” when the time comes.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.