When Spokane County bid to acquire Spokane Raceway Park two months ago, it also agreed to buy adjacent land to provide sites for a much-needed regional sports complex and a law-enforcement training center, County Commissioner Todd Mielke says.


It could have cost the county as much as $18.5 million to buy land for those uses if not for the opportunity provided by the court-ordered auction, Mielke, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, and Airway Heights Mayor Matthew Pederson contend.


The county is offering $4.3 million for the 198-acre Spokane Raceway Park and three adjoining parcels that total 116 acres, but Spokane County Superior Court Judge Robert D. Austin still must approve the sale.


He is expected to rule on the matter June 19. Critics of the county purchase have characterized it as financially imprudent and a government intrusion into racing, which they argue should be a private-sector endeavor.


The envisioned sports complex and law-enforcement training center would be developed northwest of the raceway park and likely would occupy about 55 acres and 40 acres of land, respectively, backers say.


Discussions still are in the early stages, though, so its unclear what structures and features they would include, how much they would cost, how they would be funded, and when they would be developed.


Pederson, who would like to see the sports complex created through a multijurisdictional collaboration of some type, says he expects that project would include soccer, baseball, and softball fields, an amphitheater, and open spaces for civic and other events.


One of the facilities being looked at as a possible model for the project here, he says, is the 54-acre Starfire Sports Complex, at Fort Dent Park, in Tukwila, Wash., which was developed a couple of years ago at a cost of about $10 million and is operated by a nonprofit corporation.


That complex includes four grass soccer fields, four lighted, artificial-turf soccer fields that are usable year-round, four tennis courts, a four-field softball/baseball facility, picnic and play areas, and an 80,000-square-foot athletic center that houses two indoor soccer fields, a restaurant and bar, looker rooms, and meeting rooms.


Though talks are just getting under way for the proposed complex here, Pederson says, The City Council is very supportive of this project. Were very excited about it, and were very anxious to start discussions with the county. He says it would cost as much as $8.5 million to buy a similar suitable parcel on the open market for the complex.


Meanwhile, Knezovich, who is proposing the law-enforcement training center, says that complex would include indoor and outdoor shooting ranges, a shoot house building designed for live-fire exercises, an office and classroom building, and possibly other structures, and probably would cost $10 million to $20 million. He estimates it would costly roughly $10 million to buy a site for the project elsewhere.


With funding contributions from a range of jurisdictions and law-enforcement agencies, plus possible grant money and legislative support, Knezovich says he believes the law-enforcement training center could be completed within five years.


Pederson says Airway Heights recreation programs have skyrocketed as its population has grown in recent years, but that the city cant afford to buy more property in its residential areas for recreation facilities because the land has become prohibitively expensive.


County Commissioner Todd Mielke notes that the county has invested considerable money in recreation facilities in other areas, but says, Weve been kind of derelict in our duties toward the West Plains.


Raceway park trainingKnezovich says one of the chief cost savings and benefits of establishing a law-enforcement training center at the West Plains location is that the county could use the nearby raceway park for law enforcement-related driver training when its not being used for racing events. Those training sessions would include seminars that draw sizable numbers of officers to Spokane from other jurisdictions, including other states, he says.


The raceway park, tentatively renamed Spokane Motorsports Park, includes a quarter-mile drag strip, a 2.5-mile road course, and a half-mile oval track.


Its located west of Hayford Road between Sprague Avenue and Deno Road, near the Kalispell Tribe of Indians expanding Northern Quest Casino and a few hundred yards east of the countys 265-acre off-road vehicle park.


If the countys purchase of the West Plains land is approved, Knezovich says he plans to begin using the raceway park for training almost immediately, including for a pursuit intervention techniques (PIT) program planned here in August thats expected to draw officers from throughout the Northwest.


Knezovich also would like to use the raceway park for a fast-growing program started here about three months ago in which traffic offenders who agree to additional driver training can avoid going through the normal court process or having their offenses made a permanent part of their driving record, so long as they arent cited again for a period of time. Almost 800 people already have participated in the classes, which are full, he says.


The sheriffs office currently does its classroom training in a Spokane Community College building thats to be demolished in a few years, its shooting practice at the Spokane Police Academy range and a converted Medical Lake gravel pit, and its driver training at various borrowed or rented locations, he says.


Knezovich notes that the projected cost of the envisioned training center would be far less than the $75 million to $100 million estimated cost of a training complex that his predecessor, Mark Sterk, proposed four years ago for a different West Plains site.


Although much of the attention regarding the countys purchase of the West Plains land has focused on the raceway park, Mielke contends that the projects envisioned on adjoining parcels are significant and make the raceway park almost an added bonus.


Harry Sladich, president and CEO of the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, says a key benefit of the county buying the West Plains property would be that I can use my marketing to promote it. He says he sees huge potential for it to draw more visitors to the Spokane area, whether through events at the raceway park or a growing number of training seminars that Knezovich is hosting.


Knezovich says his office hosted 20 seminars of various types here last year that attracted attendees from outside the Spokane area, and more than 60 will be held here this year. A conference held here in March attracted 300 people, he says.


He adds, Weve had people from the West Coast.


Sladich says the CVB was forced to withdraw Spokane from consideration for a major Family Motor Coach Association convention held last year, with an estimated economic impact of $6 million, because the county lacked a facility such as Spokane Raceway Park.


Mielke strongly defends county commissioners decision to buy the West Plains land, noting that the county paid the equivalent of 32 cents a square foot for itwhich he says was a bargainand citing consultants positive findings regarding its income-generating potential.


Airway Heights Pederson, who approached county commissioners months ago about possibly buying it, says the commissioners were skeptical at first, but that following extensive evaluation of the site, I think weve all been extremely surprised by the asset that is hidden before our eyes.


Finding an operatorPending the judges final decision, the county now is seeking an interim operator to reopen the racing complex July 1 and to operate it through the end of October this year and all of the 2009 racing season. A county selection committee is expected to interview finalists next week, and the commissioners are slated to pick an operator the following week. Jason Fiorito, owner of Pacific Raceways, in Kent, Wash., which claims to be the states largest and most experienced auto-racing operator, is one of several parties that have expressed interest in becoming the new track operator.


I believe it can be enormously successful. The potential is unlimited, he says. The park, though, currently is in poor condition and isnt certified for any professional racing events, and likely will take several years and substantial resources to bring it up to where it needs to be, he says.


Also, he says hes concerned about the countys apparent desire to put most of that financial risk on the operator and to take a percentage of the operators gross revenues.


What would interest us more, he says, would be an arrangement in which the county would compensate Pacific Raceways for a management assumption and take all of the receipts.


Pacific Raceways already has been through the tough experience of turning a similarly dilapidated complex into a profitable racing enterprise, he says, and believes it now has earned the right to be compensated for our management ability.


His companys continued interest in managing the raceway park, assuming its among the finalists, is just going to boil down to whether we can negotiate a deal that works for both sides, he says.


One possible intervener in the whole process is Deer Park businessman and racing fan Don Morse, who reportedly is spearheading an effort to buy the raceway park parcel from the county for $2.2 million.


Court-appointed receiver Barry Davidson last month recommended that Austin approve the countys bid of the parcels it is seeking to buy. Davidson was named receiver in June 2005 during a legal battle between the raceway parks former operator, Orville Moe, and other investors.


For auction purposes, the property was divided into 11 parcels, and the county bid on the raceway park parcel and three adjoining parcels that it said were needed partly to ensure good public access to the park and to augment tight vehicle runoff space around the road-racing course.


Separately, CPM Development Corp., of Spokane Valley, says it submitted an apparent winning bid on the second and third largest parcels on the site, and is waiting for court approval of the purchases.


It operates a gravel quarry on one of those parcels, an 81-acre site just west of the raceway park that it had been leasing. Its seeking to buy that parcel and an adjoining 85-acre parcel to the north that it says it plans to use for its quarry operation eventually.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.