A sports-venue advocacy group plans to unveil soon the results of a $75,000 feasibility study that supports the idea of developing a 6,000-seat sports and entertainment complex envisioned for Coeur d'Alene.

Dave Tomson, development manager for SRM Development LLC, of Spokane, says the group has seen preliminary drafts of the study that indicate such a complex is feasible, but declines to disclose details until the findings are rolled out in Coeur d'Alene during an event that's tentatively scheduled for March 18.

Tomson, who also is one of the organizers of the group, the Coeur d'Alene Sports Complex Committee, says, "The vision for the sports complex is to generate significant new dollars to the community" during seasonal slowdowns in economic activity.

The committee, which includes a number of public and private stakeholders, hired Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSL), a Wayzata, Minn.-based consulting firm, last May. It directed CSL to evaluate whether a multipurpose sports and entertainment facility in Coeur d'Alene would be feasible to attract national, college, high school, and city-league sporting events in addition to concerts, conventions, speaking engagements, and community events.

"These activities all bring people with their kids and wallets and fresh money turning over every two to three days in the hotels," Tomson says.

The centerpiece of the complex would be an indoor sports arena, possibly with an adjacent outdoor facility, such as a baseball field, he says.

The CLS findings will include estimates of development costs, operating revenues and expenses, and economic impacts that would be generated by nonlocal event attendees, Tomson says. The study also will identify potential funding sources for construction of the facility.

While the findings don't include a recommendation for a specific site for the venue, the complex originally was envisioned to be developed on land just south of Seltice Way that straddles the northwest part of the Riverstone development and a portion of the former Simpson Mill, on Atlas Road, Tomson says. Black Rock Development Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, owns the former mill land.

"It makes good sense that it would go there," Tomson says.

SRM Development is developing the 25-acre Village at Riverstone in the heart of the 161-acre Riverstone mixed-use development, and Black Rock is developing waterfront properties along the Spokane River at Riverstone.

Both developers have contributed $10,000 toward the study, as has the city of Coeur d'Alene's urban renewal agency, Lake City Development Corp. (LCDC).

Spokane-based Avista Corp. chipped in $7,500, and Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank; the Spokane RiverHawks baseball club; Gropp Electric Inc., of Spokane; and Schaumburg, Ill.-based MDM Construction Inc. each contributed at least $5,000, LCDC's Web site shows.

CSL is no stranger to the sports and entertainment markets here. The firm conducted a feasibility study for development of the 12,000-seat Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, which replaced the 5,400-seat Spokane Coliseum in 1995. It also did studies for Gonzaga University's 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center, and for renovations at Washington State University's Martin Stadium.

While the Coeur d'Alene sports complex would be the Lake City's largest spectator venue, other sports and fitness complexes are under construction or planned there. Those projects include the 123,000-square-foot Salvation Army Coeur d'Alene Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center, which is scheduled to open in May at the northwest corner of Ramsey and Golf Course Roads, and SRM's planned 90,000-square-foot Peak Health & Wellness Center planned in Riverstone, west of the Village at Riverstone.

The $38 million Kroc Center will feature a seven-pool aquatic center, a large multi-activity court gym, a cardio-fitness and weight-training area, a jogging track, a climbing wall, and an aerobics studio.

The $15 million Peak Health and Wellness Center project, which is on hold until summer at the earliest, would have indoor courts for several sports, including basketball, volleyball, tennis, racquetball, and squash. The facility also would offer indoor and outdoor lap pools, cardio equipment, a weight room, a pro shop, a juice bar, and a children's activity center.