Sports

Inch & Co. and WellSpan announce partnership in massive North York sports complex

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1 week ago

September 12, 2024

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Inch & Co. and WellSpan announce partnership in massive North York sports complex

A large white tent was set up in what had been the north end zone of the old Central York High School football field, shading rows of white plastic folding chairs. Cool jazz flowed from the public address system while those in attendance milled about, waiting for the big event.

It seemed like a wedding.

And, in a way, it was.

The event Thursday afternoon was the groundbreaking for Inch & Co.’s massive sports center to be built on the site. It was also the announcement that Inch had secured a sponsorship from WellSpan for the naming rights of the facility, which will be known as the WellSpan Sports Center.

The marriage – for an undisclosed sum – permits WellSpan to place its name on the $38.5 million, 250,000-square-foot sports and training center, billed as “one of the region’s largest indoor recreational facilities,” similar to Lancaster County’s Spooky Nook complex. Spooky Nook, northwest of Lancaster, is nearly three times larger at 700,000 square feet.

WellSpan will also offer services in the facility, from sports medicine to injury prevention training and “cutting edge” treatments and rehabilitation, said Dr. David Vega, senior vice president and chief medical officer of WellSpan’s medical group.

Jeff Inch, who runs the business with his brother, John, said the company believed WellSpan would be a good partner in the project being the largest healthcare provider in York County, including sports medicine and physical therapy services.

“In the beginning,” Inch said, “we knew we wanted a naming rights partner. We thought there would be a benefit to working with WellSpan. It can’t be overstated how lucky we are to have WellSpan as a partner.”

WellSpan agreed. The center expands its reach in sports medicine and promoting fitness, Vega said.

The wedding wasn’t a complete surprise. In June, an item on the online agenda of a Manchester Township meeting listed an item titled “WellSpan Sports Complex.” It was premature, as the deal was not ready to be announced, and the item was changed to “sports complex” the next day.

Previously: Inch & Co. says planned sports complex could boost local economy by $147M annually

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Kevin Schreiber, president and CEO of the York County Economic Alliance, touted the economic benefits of the project, citing estimates that it would produce more than $19 million in economic activity in its first year. Inch has previously stated that the estimate is conservative and could top $25 million.

Schreiber said the benefit extends beyond that, estimating that it would add $1.9 million in new tax revenues for local governments and result in $5.2 million in revenue from hotels that house out-of-town visitors for tournaments and other gatherings. That would result in $262,000 in hotel tax revenues, money that would be plowed into efforts to increase tourism in York County, he said.

The project has been two years in the making and is considered a passion project for the Inch brothers. They grew up just a few blocks from the football field and Jeff said on fall Friday nights, his grandmother would give the brothers $5 to buy tickets to Panther football games and Bricker’s French fries. The only caveat was they had to be home by halftime. “We could tell who was winning by the cheers of the crowd,” Jeff said.

Inch & Co. razed the former Central York High School’s football stadium beginning in April.

The developer has been working with Sports Facilities Companies, a Clearwater, Florida, based company that has worked with more than 3,000 communities to plan, fund, develop and operate sports, recreation, entertainment and fitness facilities. The company, on its website, boasts of having overseen $15 billion in development.

Construction is expected to begin in November and, depending on weather, the project could be completed by the end of 2025, Jeff Inch said.

When completed, the facility will have a large domed area housing a field for turf sports – football and soccer, among others – and will have eight basketball courts, 16 volleyball courts and 16 pickleball courts. It will also house a 20,000-square-foot fitness center.