City of Morgan Hill Bikeways, Trails, Parks and Recreation Master Plan

Section 7: Recommendations | May 2017 Sports Market Business Strategy – Morgan Hill, CA PAGE 105

inventory of practice fields and quality game fields for local games and tournaments. Additionally, if new fields are built with Field Turf they can be lined for other sports such as soccer, rugby, or lacrosse to allow for multipurpose use like Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnyvale. This could allow for additional fields to be used in conjunction with the OSC for larger tournaments.

A new facility in Morgan Hill should consider some or all of the following components:

 Four baseball/softball fields with lights (wheel configuration)  Field Turf surface with outlines for soccer/lacrosse fields  Concession stand with two points of sale  Temporary fencing to accommodate different field dimensions  Restrooms  Batting cages/ throwing tunnels

The cost of such a facility will depend on a number of factors, including building materials, field dimensions and amenities. As such, a price estimate cannot be provided at this time. Further investigation into the viability of such a complex should be conducted and should include a cost estimate.

4. PARKING & POTENTIAL ADJACENT REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

There will have to be parking considerations depending on the location of these new facilities, especially if any of them are located at the OSC/AC site. With parking already a challenge at the site, adding any additional facilities or events will require expanded parking inventory. The City of Morgan Hill may also want to consider non-sports facility development in some strategic locations near the existing athletic facilities. There could be areas of opportunity for other new real estate uses as the City looks to grow its sports facilities and attract more visitors. For example, additional hotels, gas stations, restaurants and specialty retail could be ways to capture additional visitor dollars. Any new real estate development should be preceded by further studies as the scope of this study did not consider other real estate uses. CONCLUSION Morgan Hill is in a unique position as it relates to a tourism marketing strategy because the overall plan is relatively new and untested. As a thriving community that benefits from Silicon Valley, Morgan Hill has the necessary resources to be a tourism destination. In summary, it would benefit from several important steps aimed at unifying the marketing effort. The creation of a DMO will help strengthen and guide Morgan Hill’s sports tourism efforts and marketing. The City is well-positioned to grow as a tourism destination, but a lack of cohesion has prevented such

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