PEORIA MAGAZINE June 2022

convention business traditionally lags and was non-existent in that first pandemic summer. Occupancy for July in the Peoria-Pekin market outperformed forecasts by more than 70 percent, according to market research figures at the Convention & Visitors Bureau. From May through October, occupancy exceeded forecasts by 43 percent. Two years later, the numbers continue to exceed expectations. “Hotel occupancy was up, there was more restaurant business, gasoline sold, retail shopping – much of it because of sports tourism at Louisville Slugger,” Dalfonso said. “Their numbers positively affected the entire region.” The Louisvi l le Slugger Sports Complex is primarily a softball and youth baseball facility, but there’s much more than meets the eye. There are 10 outdoor bat-and-ball fields, including two “championship stadiums,” one of which can seat up to 2,500 fans. Two more fields occupy the 125,000-square-foot dome, which also has four competition volleyball courts. The dome floor can accommodate up to 18 volleyball courts. It’s not unusual for the complex to host a major volleyball tournament indoors while staging baseball and softball tourneys outside. The indoor fields also can be easily converted to use for football, soccer and lacrosse.

Rick Gaa and Joe Bolen

“We came up with some ideas to keep people distanced and safe, and we got great cooperation from the City of Peoria and the Peoria County Health Department,” said Rick Gaa, Louisville Slugger’s vice president of operations. Gaa credits Joe Bolen, director of operations and tournaments for the complex, with innovations that helped convince public officials to allow Louis ville Slugger to resume staging events. “We extended the dugouts, so players could spread out,” Bolen said. “We set up a system where people could preorder wristbands (tickets) online, and we set up a drive-thru lane where they could just lean out the window of their vehicle and show their wristbands as they entered. That way, we didn’t have 50 to 100 people standing on top

of each other at the gate trying to buy wristbands.” Other changes included cashless, no contact payment for concessions and merchandise. Game schedules were staggered to reduce overcrowding. Bleachers were temporarily removed, allowing people to bring their own seats and spread out around the fields. “Every step we took was about making people more comfortable and trying to keep them from over-congregating,” Bolen said. The complex reopened on Father’s Day weekend in 2020 – three months after the initial closure – and business has been increasing ever since. Hotel occupancy in the Peoria area zoomed through July and August, when

38 JUNE 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE