Meet the Players
Effingham County Community Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic organization founded in 1998. It administers and manages gifts, bequests and grants for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in our community. The ECCF was responsible for moving the Sports Center project out of the proposal phase into actual planning, and is committed to providing leadership throughout the project. The ECCF will raise, invest, manage and distribute the assets in the Endowment Fund.
The City of Effingham will be the owner. They will purchase the YMCA facility, renovate and expand it to create the new Sports Center. The City will pay for construction with hotel/motel tax revenues. Rink Management Services, which operates 25 large sports facilities across the country, will manage the Sports Center. Their experience
in managing the complexities of multi-functional public sports facilities will ensure that our Sports Center is run professionally and will provide a high level of service and expertise to the community in hosting major tournaments.
The Effingham YMCA will share the use of the facility, providing classes, programs and events for their members within the new Sports Center.
Everybody Wins!
The Effingham Sports Center truly creates a win-win situation. Normally a project of this magnitude comes at a great cost to taxpayers. Our citizens will enjoy the benefits of having a year-round public facility for sports and recreation, with no tax increase. The
Effingham Sports Center’s regional draw will fill our hotels, and the hotel/motel taxes paid by visitors will pay for the building. Local merchants will prosper from the influx of players and visitors during tournaments, and the City will increase its revenue from the resulting taxes. Interested earned on the $3 million Endowment Fund will be a
permanent source of operating funds, benefiting our community for generations to come.