Kidsports gets $1.4 million grant

The city of Kalispell will receive a $1.4 million grant to complete development of the Kidsports complex.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock announced the grant award on Tuesday.

The money will be used for infrastructure work leading to the addition of seven multipurpose fields for lacrosse, soccer and football. One tract will be left open for a future third Babe Ruth baseball field.

Kidsports covers 126 acres, including 35 acres that are currently undeveloped between the existing fields and Old Reserve Drive.

Kidsports President Dan Johns said the group’s primary objective is building additional fields. But before that phase, Kidsports will bid out the construction job to install roads, parking lots and irrigation access to the north end of the athletic complex.

Johns expects construction to begin in late spring 2016.

Johns said Kidsports also hopes to redesign the walking and cross-country path and upgrade the playground area to make it handicap-accessible.

Once the next set of fields is completed, “Then we’re out of space,” Johns said with a laugh.

Johns said the full cost of developing the remaining 35 acres at Kidsports complex will surpass the $1.4 million grant. Johns said the group has a rough estimate of the final cost, although he expects that to change as time goes on. He plans to hold fundraisers in the future to cover the remaining costs.

 The grant news was a pleasant conclusion to a year of extensive financial support for the future development of Kalispell.

“Kind of like everything else we’ve seen for Kalispell this year, this is the icing on the cake,” Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson said. “To see the money come in and be able to finish off the development is unbelievable for the children.”

State Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell, had a major role last year in inserting the grant for youth athletic complexes on state school trust land into the state budget.

“When you look at the requirements for the grant, you had the feeling the project really fit those requirements,” Johnson said.

Johns said the grant announcement was a great gift to the community that is seeing so much investment into projects such as the U.S. 93 bypass, the Core and Rail Redevelopment plan and the Flathead Valley Community College student housing project.

“I look at communities like a big puzzle; there’s various parts,” Johns said. “The TIGER grant is one, downtown is one, FVCC and the list goes on. Kidsports is just one of those pieces, and collectively they define the community.”

A Montana Department of Commerce economic study in 2014 estimated the athletic complex injected $7.4 million a year into the local economy.

“Each year we seem to have similar-type activities out there, whether it’s soccer or softball tournaments out there,” Johns said. “I think with the additional fields, it would only improve that.”

Johnson said the Kidsports complex has been a community staple for years, and he’s anticipating an improved facility for future families when Kalispell might look a lot different with the completion of the bypass and the face-changing Core and Rail Redevelopment project.

“I’m looking forward to watching the next generations enjoying those fields,” Johnson said. “I’d like to watch my grandkids on those fields someday.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.