Plans for an elite baseball tournament complex in the Cedar Rapids area that would draw professional and college scouts would qualify for up to $2.5 million in state sales tax rebates under a bill advanced Thursday by an Iowa Senate subcommittee.

Senate File 2212, which was amended, was sent to the tax-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee, where it is expected to be favorably received, said Sen. William Dotzler, D-Waterloo, who is managing the legislation.

“This is a pretty exciting project. It has the potential to bring thousands and thousands of visitors to the area,” Dotzler said.

The proposal calls for the development of the nonprofit Prospect Meadows ball fields on a 121-acre site just north of Marion as a place to hold regional baseball tournaments. Organizers anticipate scouts from college and professional teams will be drawn there to recruit Midwest baseball talent, said Gary Grant, a lobbyist and consultant for the project. The proposed complex will include eight large regulation baseball fields and eight smaller fields with 300-foot fences, plus one “miracle field” for people with disabilities and special needs.

Grant said the facility is expected to host thousands of baseball games annually, attracting players from as far away as Chicago, Kansas City, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The program would be operated in a partnership with Perfect Game, which has run Scout Leagues in Iowa for more than 10 years. He noted that many players drafted by Major League Baseball clubs have played in Perfect Game leagues.

“We think that this will be a fairly significant addition to regional tourism,” Grant said. The complex has the potential to bring in $25 million annually in direct expenditures from thousands of visitors, he told lawmakers.

Grant said the need for more ball fields has been evident in the area for years. He noted that Iowa is one of the only states in the region with high schools that play summer baseball, which he said causes nearly all of the quality fields to be unavailable for summer leagues and tournament play.

All three legislators on the Iowa Senate subcommittee spoke favorably about the proposed legislation.

“When you think about the number of games played and all the revenue generated in hotel and motel taxes and restaurants in our community, this is a pretty exciting thing,” Dotzler said. He added that if the project fails, Iowa taxpayers won’t lose anything because investors are bearing the financial risk.

Sen. Chaz Allen, D-Newton, whose community hosts the Iowa Speedway at Newton, said he is well aware of the financial benefits that such tourism can provide to the hospitality industry.

I think that the moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and grandfathers and grandmothers, will follow these teams. The impact will be significant,” Allen said.

Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, said he truly supports the legislation, but he noted that many such tourism projects have been aimed a larger Iowa communities in metro areas. He suggested redrafting legislation to ensure that rural Iowa communities also have opportunities to capitalize on such projects on a smaller scale.