JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Westmont Hilltop Recreation Commission is developing a business plan to build and maintain a multi-million dollar indoor sports complex on Gocher Street in Upper Yoder Township.
The commission plans to build a $30 million to $50 million complex that would provide the state-of-the-art facilities the school district lacks and attract sports tourism, such as traveling pickup basketball teams, to the Johnstown area.
The commission, which meets the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at the Westmont Borough Hall, 1000 Luzerne St., has appointed a committee made up of commission members and school district representatives to meet July 24 with a sports facilities company that is a consultant on the project.
The commission hired the company earlier this year to determine the economic feasibility of the project and develop a business plan.
The committee's chairman, Rob Gleason, said its first meeting with the Florida-based company took place by video conference in June.
Gleason said funding for the project will come from multiple sources, including tax revenue paid to the committee by the chartering government entities, Westmont Hilltop School District, Westmont Borough and Upper Yoder Township, grants, revenue generated from programming at the complex and private sponsorship.
The project's high $50 million figure reflects the estimated cost of building an aquatics center that board members said is badly needed in southern Cambria County.
Schools such as Westmont Hilltop, which produces state-level swimmers, book practice sessions with the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Pool in Richland Township, sometimes making trips as far as Ebensburg and Somerset County, committee member Bill Carney said.
And while the Greater Johnstown YMCA has a pool, it's not deep enough to dive in, he said.
The project under consideration would be built on the site of the former Westmont Hilltop Elementary School, which has now been demolished.
Cost estimates for the project come from an initial study funded by the Westmont Hilltop School District and completed earlier this year by Omni Associates Architects of Fairmont, W.Va. The study showed that a complex featuring an eight-lane, 25-yard-long pool, an indoor turf facility and two basketball courts surrounded by a track could fit on the 13.7-acre Goucher Street site.
The committee then handed the site plans over to the sports facilities company to develop a business plan.
The committee that has begun meeting with the company includes commissioners Gleason, Greg Hyder and Chris DelSignore, the commission's executive director Dirk Johnson, Westmont Hilltop School District Superintendent Tom Mitchell, athletic director Tom Callihan and local businessman Lou Crocco.
“We provided Omni with an initial site plan and cost estimates, but really, who knows what it's going to look like,” Gleason said. “Omni Architects provided us with a lot of data that was shared with the sports facilities company.”
The sports venue company is also researching area hotels and lodging facilities to see if the venues can attract sports tourism. Gleason said sports tourism, particularly pickup basketball tournaments, has become increasingly popular and profitable for sports venues.
However, the committee’s primary focus is providing sports and recreational opportunities to the local community, including the school district.
“We need to get (the sports facilities company) to understand what we're thinking,” Gleason said. “They don't know anything about the area, so we need to talk to them about the school district and the lack of aquatics facilities.”
