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This article was in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, March 12, 2004
Marlboro envisions sports mecca Youth tourneys could boast economy.
By
Elaine Thompson MARLBORO - City leaders; pointing to the city's crossroads location and many hotel rooms, would like to make the community a sports tournament mecca that would help fuel the local economy. Ward 1 Councilor Robert Katz, a big youth sports advocate, wants a committee formed to explore how much it would cost to improve current sports facilities and build new ones. "One of the charges of the committee would be to find out how to pay for this without using city tax dollars; " Mr. Katz said in an interview yesterday. "If this works out, I see it as a revenue enhancer for the city of Marlboro without costing the residents any money." Mr. Katz and several councilors are particularly motivated by New England Sports Center. Skaters - including Olympic winners and other international stars --- have practiced at rinks at the sports center on Donald Lynch Boulevard. The center also hosts hockey tournaments involving teams from throughout the United States and other countries. The private sports center is such a success that a fifth rink is planned. Councilor-at-Large Nancy Stevens said events at the sports center fill as many as 25,000 local hotel rooms each year. Those visitors also spend many thousands of dollars at local restaurants, gas stations and shops, she noted. "Why not develop Marlboro as a hockey hub," said Mrs. Stevens. "We have an opportunity here to do something to develop our local teams using revenue from other places." Marlboro sees cash in sports In an interview in 2001, City Planner Alfred Lima said the sports center generated about $125,000 each year in hotel room tax revenues for the Marlboro budget. Ward 6 Councilor Edward Clancy said the sports center has also helped put Marlboro on the map. Once when he was in California he told someone he was from Marlboro and they re-marked, "Oh, that's where New England Sports Center is located." "Marlboro is at the apex of Routes 495 and 290 and the pike so it's easy to get to.. We have more hotel rooms than most communities," said Mr. Clancy. "This is a good idea. Mr. Katz said Marlboro Youth Baseball is also a model of success. The group's Cal Ripken baseball tournament brings thousands of visitors to the city. "If we can find a way to apply this same formula once again, then we may help keep our residential rising real estate taxes in check," said W. Katz. The committee would look for grants, private enterprises and the relocation of a national or statewide sports organization to the city as ways of covering costs. Mr. Katz said Mayor Dennis Hunt is expected to appoint seven people to the committee to do a feasibility study. If the committee determines the proposal is feasible, a broader Marlboro Sports Commission would be established to get the ball rolling. As suggested by some councilors, the commission would likely incorporate the existing Recreation Commission and someone from the Visitors' Bureau. A couple of years ago, Richard C. Tomanek, the bureau's president and general manager of Embassy Suites Hotel, proposed developing a 100-acre festival and sports park to attract amateur athletic tournaments and festivals to the city. The proposal quietly died when the bureau's state and city funding were eliminated. Katz said Eugene Carlo, superintendent of Assabet Val-ley Regional Technical High School, will also be asked to come on board. That school's proposal to build a large sports complex near Route 290 is also on hold because of funding prob-
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