SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – As hotel nights booked in Springfield are on an upswing, CapitolCityNow has been contacted a few times by people who claim that one of the future reasons for that isn’t doing so well.

Those writing to CCN or posting on our Facebook page said since it opened earlier this year, the new Scheel’s Sports Park hasn’t had much business or attendance, and they don’t believe the park is booked for years out.

City Tourism Director Scott Dahl tells the WTAX Morning Newswatch Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“Anything we’re getting now is more than we’ve ever received in the past,” said Dahl.  “We’ve never had sports tourism in the city of Springfield.  Now, with the Scheel’s Sports Park, we do.”

Dahl says maybe we don’t have as many people coming to the park as you might have thought in year one, but it’s in the process of ramping up, which he says is typically the case.  What’s more, Dahl says some claims the park is booked a decade out aren’t yet true, but it is booked out for about three years — something said often since the park opened earlier this year.

“(Attendance at the park is) maybe not what people were expecting this year, but there’s always a ramp-up year.  They just opened up,” said Dahl.  “2027 looks very strong and beyond, and that’s what we do.  We have projections…it usually takes three years to hit your stride, especially in sports tourism.”

And, in a follow-up e-mail to CapitolCityNow, some of what other claims to us isn’t exactly true either.

“The City is not liable for the bonds (used to help pay for the construction), rather (the city) only pledged 2% local hotel tax and 1% sales tax in the business district at Legacy Pointe,” Dahl wrote.  “If the sports park is not operating, the City ceases the incentives.  The Scheel’s Sports Park developers have assumed all the risks, not the City. “