Bringing Opportunity Home

Editorial By Tim James, CEO-Mentor and Past President, Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce 

On any given weekend in Lexington County, you’ll find families enjoying the Congaree River, Icehouse Amphitheater, fishing on Lake Murray, gathering at a local farmers market, or cheering on young athletes at one of our outstanding recreation facilities. These are the places and experiences that bring us together and make Lexington County such a desirable place to live, work, and visit.

They didn’t happen by accident. They are the result of communities that have continually invested in themselves, creating places where families want to spend time, businesses want to grow, and visitors want to return.

The proposed Lexington County Sports Complex is another great opportunity to build on that success.

Over the years I have had the privilege of looking at our community from several perspectives—as President & CEO of the Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce, a Cayce City Council member, Mayor Pro Tem, Public Safety Director, and, important for this project, as a dad. While our children grew, we spent weekends traveling across the Southeast to watch them compete in sports tournaments. And like many other Lexington County parents, I know firsthand the time and money our families spend in other communities because that’s where the tournaments are held.

This project gives us an opportunity to bring more of those weekends home.

Our County already has outstanding parks and recreation facilities. This project builds on that foundation by creating something our county has never had before—a premier indoor-outdoor tournament destination serving our own athletes while attracting regional events and visitors from across the Southeast.

The plans include eight high school and collegiate regulation baseball fields that can also accommodate soccer, softball and lacrosse. A 150,000-square-foot indoor facility would house 12 basketball courts, which can be converted to 24 volleyball courts, and provide flexible space for cheerleading, gymnastics, and other competitions.

For a parent, the benefit of having those opportunities closer to home is easy to understand. From a Chamber perspective, though, the opportunity is even larger.

Communities across the Southeast compete for tournaments because they understand what follows: visitors, outside dollars, and new customers for local businesses. Destinations like Rock Hill and LakePoint Sports in Georgia have demonstrated how tournament facilities can generate economic activity well beyond the playing fields.

Every tournament brings hundreds—and sometimes thousands—of visiting families who need somewhere to stay, eat, and spend their time. In Cayce-West Columbia, that means new customers for local businesses, including restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, hotels, and retailers, while promising visitors across the county a chance to discover Lake Murray, the Congaree River, and the businesses and attractions that give our communities their character.

Most importantly, those are new dollars coming into Lexington County from families who would otherwise have spent their weekend and money somewhere else.

I’ve also seen firsthand what thoughtful investment can mean for an area with untapped potential. During my term on Cayce City Council, I represented and lived in District 4, the planned area for the proposed Sports Complex. I believed in the future of that area then, and I still do today, and I see this site as the absolute best for this project. 

This sports complex can become an important anchor for that corridor, bringing customers to existing businesses, putting underused properties back to work, and helping attract the restaurants, retail, and amenities our residents want closer to home. That’s how new activity can strengthen a community for the people who already call it home.

The benefits can extend beyond tournament weekend. Families who come for a tournament may return for Lake Murray, a favorite restaurant, or another visit to our community. There is no better advertisement for Lexington County than allowing people to experience it firsthand.

Visitors also generate Accommodations Tax and Hospitality Tax revenues that can be reinvested in tourism, community events, and festivals such as the Cayce Soiree, West Columbia Music Festival, local parades, and many other events across our county. A stronger visitor economy means more customers supporting the businesses we take pride in and more resources funding the experiences residents enjoy year-round.

And those benefits won’t stop in Cayce-West Columbia. Tournament visitors will stay, dine, shop and explore throughout Lexington County, creating opportunities for businesses and communities well beyond the playing fields.

I’ve spent much of my adult life working to make Cayce-West Columbia and Lexington County a stronger place to live, raise a family and build businesses.  I’ve also spent plenty of weekends as a dad loading up the car and heading somewhere else for a tournament.

I’d much rather see more of those families loading up their cars and heading our way.

We didn’t become one of South Carolina’s premier places to live, work and raise a family by standing still. We got here by making thoughtful investments that supported local businesses and improved the quality of life for the people who call this place home.

This project is another opportunity to do just that, giving our children more opportunities to compete close to home while bringing new customers and outside dollars into our economy and helping unlock the potential of an important part of Lexington County. 

That’s not growth for growth’s sake. It’s about bringing opportunity home and making sure the people, businesses, and communities already here benefit from it.