New sports complex coming to Camp Landing in Boyd County
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New sports complex coming to Camp Landing in Boyd County, Kentucky
Boyd County is teaming up with a private developer to bring a large project to the area. The county is buying land at Camp Landing to build a sports complex. The entire cost of the project is $19 million.Construction is scheduled to begin in July and finish during the spring of 2026. “Honestly their sales should double, once everything is said and done,” said developer Jason Camp.
The development has been four years in the making with 92,000 square feet being purchased for the complex for a variety of sporting options.
“Our vision is to have the largest entertainment district in the State of Kentucky,” Boyd County Judge-Executive Eric Chaney.” The county will be bonding right at $15 million. Those bond payments will be made from the profits of the sports complex and tourism coming into our community,”
The entire cost of the project is $19 million.
Camp Landing developer Jason Camp said the complex will increase foot traffic, benefiting area businesses.
“We did 2.3 million visitors last year in 2024, so we think this is going to be over 4 million visitors a year,” Camp estimated. “Honestly their sales should double, once everything is said and done,” said Camp.
Even businesses that are not located at Camp Landing are also expecting a boost. Trina Maynard manages a Dairy Queen in Cannonsburg, about a mile from Camp Landing.
“I think it will bring in a lot of traffic, more business and after they play basketball and stuff. They all want ice cream,” Maynard said.
Chaney said the project is a quality-of-life improvement and a selling point for recruiting businesses.
“There are 119 other counties in the state of Kentucky that are competing for big business. We have to find a way to be different,” Chaney said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in July and finish during the spring of 2026.
Step 1 of sportsplex under way; county purchases portions of Camp Landing
Boyd County Fiscal Court approved and announced the purchase of more than 100,000 square feet of Camp Landing Entertainment District. The project will convert 107,796 square feet to include a state-of-the-art weight room, archery space, rock climbing walls, pickleball courts, convention and breakout session space. The cost of obtaining the interior space is not to exceed $6.27 million per the agreement with previous owner Jason Camp. The installation of such a complex is another component of Chaney’s long-held plan of “economic development through tourism,” but attracting outsiders to a county lacking natural marvels, means the attractions have to be built, Chaney said.“We’re closing in on the original plan and this is just step one in doing that,’ Chaney added, adding the eventual establishment of a sports complex would make 500,000square feet of entertainment all under one roof. “This is the first step to get to the ultimate sports complex that we need.”
Boyd County Judge-Executive Eric Chaney said the purchase of space inside Camp Landing is Phase 1 of the project, which will convert 107,796 square feet to include a state-of-the-art weight room, archery space, rock climbing walls, pickleball courts, convention and breakout session space.
The cost of obtaining the interior space is not to exceed $6.27 million per the agreement with previous owner Jason Camp.
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“We’ve talked for a long time about a sports complex in Boyd County,” Chaney said. “This is the first step to get to the ultimate sports complex that we need.”
While looking into out-of-state complexes similar to what’s wanted in the county, Chaney said those facilities were typically 145-165,000 square foot all under one roof.
Under the current economy, Chaney said the cost of constructing the full facilities from the ground up “is a lot of money.”
“You name it. This is everything we were looking at doing with new construction under a new build and bringing inside,” Chaney said.
By utilizing the existing structure of the once dead mall, Chaney said the county will save costs when approaching new construction required for Phase 2.
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Under the second phase, Chaney said the fiscal court hopes to begin construction on 113,000 square feet of additional space behind Camp Landing to include basketball and volleyball courts and 23,000 square feet of turf field.
The installation of such a complex is another component of Chaney’s long-held plan of “economic development through tourism,” but attracting outsiders to a county lacking natural marvels, means the attractions have to be built.
“We know there’s a market for it,” Chaney said. “Whatever we do here we have to make it ourselves.”
Chaney said the recent growth with Camp Landing and Sandy’s Racing & Gaming are an example of investments driving visitors to the area, adding the eventual establishment of a sports complex would make 500,000 square feet of entertainment all under one roof.
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“We’re closing in on the original plan and this is just step one in doing that,” Chaney added.
Commissioner David Salisbury said when the original plans were drawn up, the price tag came out to more than $40 million — but by using existing space, that dollar amount was slashed to $24 million “once it’s all said and done.”
“The growth and opportunity that we’re going to have for youth sports in Boyd County and bringing teams in from all around the United States and partnering with Sports Facilities Inc., I think it’s going to be a very good thing,” Salisbury said.
Chaney said the multi-million-dollar project would have little to no immediate impact on taxpayers, as the fiscal court moved to utilize equity from existing bonds by refinancing, which ultimately will add to the county’s debt but won’t change the payment amount the county is already responsible for, similar to remortgaging.
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“We have the revenue in place to accomplish this,” Chaney said.
Jason Camp, who previously said he originally began his investments the former mall property for the sole purpose of an indoor sports complex back in 2021.
After the county invited and allowed Revolutionary Racing to purchase a portion of the property to make way for the existing Sandy’s Racing & Gaming location, Camp had to adjust his vision of a family-friendly destination with a new neighbor in mind.
That vision appears to be back on track, according to Camp, who thanked the fiscal court on Tuesday for “coming through and working together to get this done.”
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“As most people know, my wife and I didn’t purchase the dead mall to buy a dead mall, we wanted to redevelop it and bring something back to the community,” Camp said, adding his background in sports made a future sports complex his main priority.
“I wanted to thank you for your due diligence and staying at it and coming back to the table to do what you guys said,” Camp concluded.
“Thank you for your investment in our community, Jason,” Chaney said.
Back in November, the fiscal court announced the purchase of 6.5 acres of land near Camp Landing, presumably the location of Phase 2’s future construction.
Source: https://wchstv.com/news/local/new-sports-complex-coming-to-camp-landing-in-boyd-county