$70 Million Sports Park "Complete With Paintball" Planned 

A development group Tuesday proposed building a $70 million sports complex in Van Buren that would include an indoor water park, motorcycle and bike racing, skateboarding, a small convention center and two hotels.

Action Developers Inc. said the complex of buildings and outdoor sports facilities would be built on a 46-acre site adjacent to the state Thruway and Interstate 690, at the northeast corner of Walters and Winchell roads, and attract up to 350,000 people a year when fully developed.
Jacob Wright, one of the project's five partners, said the sports park would draw action sports fans from within a three-hour drive of Syracuse, ranging in age from 4 to 30.

"You take mom and dad and their three kids, and we're trying to make it fun for all five of them," said Wright, 27, of North Syracuse.
He said the facility will be the only one of its type in the country because it combines an indoor water park with motocross racing, BMX bike racing, go-kart racing and skateboarding facilities and hotels at one site.
Wright's company, HeadRush Inc., opened a 31,000-square- foot indoor paintball facility on the property two years ago and began operating a paintball center under the same name in Rochester a month ago.
Last year, he told town officials in Van Buren he planned a $10 million expansion on the site that would include motocross and BMX bike racing, skateboarding, an enlarged paintball facility and an 82-room Wingate Inn. Some site work for that expansion, including the hotel, has started.

Tuesday, he said the $10 million development would be the first phase of a much larger development and will include an 87-room Wingate.
The second phase will cost an estimated $60 million and contain, among other things, a 45,000-square-foot indoor water park that could be easily doubled in size to 90,000 square feet, he said. The water park would feature tube slides, "surf" machines, drop slides, a "lazy" river on which people can float on inflatable tubes and a 50-person hot tub, he said.

Attached to the water park would be two restaurants, retail stores, an arcade, a play area and a spa.

Mayan hotel The second phase would include a 200-room hotel with a Mayan theme, a 60-room Wingate Inn expansion and a 10,000-square-foot convention center, he said.

Wright and another partner, Chris Forslund, 39, managing member of Blue Sky Development LLC, of Appleton, Wis., were scheduled to discuss their plans Tuesday night with the Van Buren Town Council and today with the town Planning Board. Among the approvals they need is a rezoning of the property from industrial to planned unit development.
They said they expect to complete the first phase this summer. The start of the second phase is contingent on approval of the zoning change and on the group financing it. They said work could start on the second phase as early as the fall.

The other three partners in the project are from Aberdeen, S.D.: Judy Bledsoe, 48, co-owner of Bledsoe Family Chiropractic, of Aberdeen; Kevin Krank, 51, co-owner of Hospitality Builders, who has been involved in hotel construction for more than 20 years; and Steve Warren, 54, co-owner of Hospitality Builders, who has been involved in owning, developing and operating more than 30 motel properties in various states.

Wright and Forslund said the financing will include private investment, loans and possibly government assistance. They said they have approached the Onondaga County economic development office about financial or tax incentives.

Donald Western, county economic development director, said the group asked two months ago that the site be designated as a state Empire Zone, which would make it eligible for a host of state tax credits and property tax rebates.
He said the county decided not to give it the Empire Zone designation because plans for the park were not far enough along to know if it would qualify as a tourist attraction eligible for zone benefits, he said.
"It seemed very premature," he said. "It was a little hard to see at this stage."

Wright and Forslund said they have not come up with a name for the The sports park.

The Destiny factor
he proposed Destiny USA retail and entertainment resort in Syracuse has also talked about building an indoor water park. Wright said he is not worried about the competition. Anything that would bring more tourists to the area would boost business for him, he said.
"More tourists coming in will help our project," he said. "I don't see any negative at all."

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