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16 | I NSIGH T • M a r c h 2 0 2 0 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m • PLACES continued High performance Community First Champion Center sees successful start With the flick of a wrist and a ball sent flying, the Community First Champion Center in Grand Chute kicked off its opening weekend with a handball tournament in late November and has been going strong ever since. Jason Habeck, sales and marketing manager for the center, says the facility has been exceeding expectations for bookings. It's been busy every weekend, including multiple weekends in which every competition space has been filled. e center has events booked every weekend through May. "To have all three competition spaces going during multiple weekends, I think that's more than what we could have asked for," he says. e $30 million center, which is projected to provide an $8 million-plus annual economic impact, was funded through hotel-motel room taxes from 10 Fox Cities municipalities. Habeck says delivering on that economic impact and creating 20,000 hotel room nights remains the goal. e center has brought in people from outside a 100-mile radius of the Fox Cities, with teams traveling from Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa. Large events have included a state gymnastics meet with more than 200 competitors and a Prep Dig volleyball competition. Habeck says the center is vying to bring in a hockey tournament that would draw teams from throughout the Midwest. B Y J E S S I C A T H I E L e facility features a year- round ice rink with seating for up to 1,000, a fieldhouse with four basketball courts or eight volleyball courts and a seasonal arena that doubles as an ice rink and four basketball or eight volleyball courts. Basketball, hockey and volleyball have been the biggest revenue generators for the center. As the warmer months approach and the center enters its slow season, Habeck says the focus will switch to offering local programming opportunities, such as camps. e Junior Gamblers and Appleton Youth Hockey also will use the ice throughout the summer. Another project funded by hotel-motel room taxes, the Fox Cities Exhibition Center, has taken on a new use with Appleton Downtown Inc.'s Community Public Market series of events. ADI held its first market in February and has additional ones slated for March 21 and April 18. Lynn Schlemm, marketing director for ADI, says the exhibition center provides a venue that allows the organization to freshen its indoor farm markets, which typically include 25 to 30 vendors and are held inside City Center. With the larger space, Schlemm and the ADI team hoped to replicate the vibe of the outdoor Downtown Appleton Farm Market. If initial results are any indication, the concept has succeeded. e first market featured more than 80 vendors that included retailers, food and restaurants, and nonprofits, family-friendly activities and live music. It drew more than 3,000 people, and Schlemm says it gave many people a chance to experience the exhibition center for the first time. "We were over the moon about the number of attendees, but then the kicker is, are they spending? e vendors were ecstatic with how their sales were," Schlemm says. ADI plans to continue to hold monthly markets throughout the winter, with the possibility of adding a January market in 2021. Menasha downtown takes shape e site of a devastating fire is poised to take on a new life in downtown Menasha. e historic Brin eatre building was destroyed in a 2018 blaze. In December, the Menasha Common Council unanimously approved taking the next steps on a development proposal for the site. e $10 million investment would include a three-story mixed-use building, a four-story, 46-unit residential building, community gathering spaces and connectivity to water and trails on the corner of Main and Tayco streets, creating a gateway to downtown Menasha. As a nod to its roots and the original 1928 building, the new development is called e Brin. RF Development, Vision Architecture and CR Structures are leading the project. "We are excited to participate in this team to revitalize downtown Menasha. I am passionate about improving where I live and raise my family," Kip Golden, co-owner of CR Structures and Menasha resident, said of the project. As of mid-February, the city and developer were working to finish the dra development agreement to present to the council. CR Structures expects a 12-month construction period with an anticipated spring 2021 completion date. Sam Schroeder, community development director for the City of C O M M U N I T Y F I R S T C H A M P I O N C E N T E R Players compete in a hockey tournament at the Community First Champion Center. The facility has seen a successful first couple of months, with all tournament spaces booked many weekends since opening in late November.