East Fishkill sports dome seen as potential economic boon – Poughkeepsie Journal

The Hudson Valley Sportsdome — a smaller complex in Marlborough and located on about 50 acres — has an assessed property value of $1,617,800, according to Ulster County’s 2015 Final Assessment Roll.  

The town received $10,147.89 in January for the year, Assessor Cindy Hilbert said. That includes town, county, highway, fire and special districts taxes. A call and email to the Marlboro Central School District Director of Finance Patrick Witherow waswere not returned.

The Marlborough sports complex opened in December 2004 and, Sportsdome President Marianne Buccellatto said the facility draws about 350,000 visitors annually. 

In comparison, the Sports Kingdome visitor projections are 500,000 or more annually. 

The main sports using the Hudson Valley Sportsdome are soccer, lacrosse and baseball, with soccer dominant, Buccellatto said. 

The facility is used most from October through May when the outside fields are unusable, she added. 

“Our weekend tournaments definitely make a huge impact on the local economy,” she said. “We have several hotels in Poughkeepsie and Fishkill that advertise on our local accommodations page on our website. They see a lot of business. A lot of people are coming from a distance and they’re staying one or two nights in the area.” 

A facility with 16 fields in Rehoboth Beach Delaware was noted in the environment assessment document for its tourism economic impact resulting from youth sports tournaments at about $17.5 million. The report does not provide specific estimates for the East Fishkill facility. 

East Fishkill Town Supervisor John Hickman said he doesn’t expect the largest impact to come from the property value and taxes the municipality will collect. 

“The huge value will be in the economic impact,” he said. “I see value in the next building not in the dome per se. My thought after that is a hotel being built and maybe another sports (complex).” 

Some area residents are more excited about the buzz the Sports Kingdome will create as well as the eyesore of abandoned buildings it could slowly transform. 

“There are other facilities around that are OK for practice and small-sided games, but something of this size will allow for full-sided games and give the local high schools…a bad weather option,” East Fishkill resident Jeff Gartner said in a Facebook post.  

He added that the “corridor on (Route) 52 which used to look like a slum” is now being “revitalized with the replacement of the run-down gas station with Orthopedic Associates replacing the run-down restaurant and the dome being built.” 

East Fishkill resident Robert Horton said he thinks it’s “a big economic development ‘win'” for the area.  

“The old abandoned IBM site will get a new life as a major sports venue…and our local small businesses will get more customers thanks to the attraction of new visitors by the sports dome,” Horton said in an email. 

Amanda Fries: 845-437-4824, afries@poughkeepsiejournal.com, Twitter: @mandy_fries

By the numbers

$25 million: Estimated cost of the Sports Kingdome

500,000: Projected annual visitors at the Sports Kingdome

350,000: Visitors annually at the Hudson Valley Sportsdome in Marlborough

 $1,617,800: Assessed property value of Hudson Valley Sportsdome in Marlborough