Prospect Meadows receives Gazette Business Award

Prospect Meadows was honored with a “Community Improvement Award” by the Gazette Tuesday night during a ceremony at the Kirkwood hotel.

The honor was bestowed during The Gazette Business Awards program and was the second major honor for the new sports facility in two weeks. Prospect Meadows received the “Community Impact Award” from the Marion Chamber of Commerce and Marion Times last week.

“Thank-you for this award. We really appreciate it,” said Prospect Meadows General Manager Jack Roeder, who accepted the award on behalf of the entire organization. “It’s so much fun to see the youngsters playing and having a great time.

“We had a really good first year and learned a lot.”

 Prospect Meadows opened in late May and hosted over 300 local youth baseball and softball games. They also hosted traveling teams from a number of states with the majority coming from Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Missouri. According to Roeder, “the travel teams generated thousands of hotel nights, as well as several million dollars of direct spending in the area.”

Roeder expects the number of teams, hotel rooms and economic impact to increase tremendously in 2020 when Prospect Meadows is open for the entire baseball and softball season, beginning much earlier in the spring in March or April. “That number is going to double, ” he remarked.

The Kiwanis Miracle League, which is for youngsters with different abilities, has proven to be a huge success in the community. Prospect Meadows also hosts the League of Dreams, sponsored by the Optimist Clubs. In addition, the non-profit organization welcomed company picnics, birthday parties and company outings in 2019.

Roeder said fundraising efforts will continue as Prospect Meadows wants to add to phase one and plan for phase two. The complex currently has nine fields including the Miracle Field. He also indicated Prospect Meadows is looking at opportunities to make this a sports complex in addition to the baseball and softball.