State officials are giving developers another 60 to 90 days to submit concepts for "Victory Commons," a collaborative initiative meant to help Kidsports, Kalispell's most heavily used sports facility, be able to afford to stay where it is.

An original deadline of mid-December came and went for people to submit commercial development concepts for up to 29 acres of Section 36 school trust land along U.S. 93 North.

Several developers showed interest in the project but asked for more time to prepare proposals, said Mike Collins, a program manager at the Northwest Land Office in Kalispell.

"The good news is we had a good response. We just need to give them some more time," Collins said of the deadline extension.

Concepts for Victory Commons could include the use of up to 11 acres that Kidsports has agreed to release from its lease for the project - land for which Kidsports would have to be compensated.

Through the city of Kalispell, Kidsports entered a 40-year lease for 138 acres in Section 36 back in 1996.

The nonprofit is the umbrella organization a for youth-sports program and over the years has raised and spent roughly $5 million to build soccer, baseball, softball and football fields.

Games and tournaments held at its fields draw thousands of young athletes, family members and spectators to the city of Kalispell every spring, summer and fall.

That's a potential customer base that could factor heavily into concepts for Victory Commons.

The potential development site sits next to Kidsports and fronts U.S. 93 North near Flathead Valley Community College and the large commercial developments in north Kalispell.

The idea for trying to develop Victory Commons was put together by Kidsports, the city of Kalispell and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

It's meant to help Kidsports get a head start on raising enough money to buy a permanent easement for its facilities - something that could cost up to $2.5 million or $3 million, according to at least one early estimate by Kidsports Director Dan Johns.

If developers want to use any or all of the land Kidsports has agreed to release for the project, they would have to buy the rights to it, giving the group a jump on its fundraising.

By spurring additional commercial development on Section 36, Victory Commons would also raise more lease revenues for the state school trust fund.

THE CONCERN behind Victory Commons is that Kidsports eventually may be priced out of its present location.

The annual cost of Kidsports' 40-year lease increases by about 1.5 percent a year and hit $42,910 for 2011.

That remains an affordable amount for now, Johns has said in the past, but the nonprofit faces a mandatory land reappraisal in about five years.

Montana Department of Natural Resources is mandated to capture full market value with all of its leases on school trust property.

There essentially were nothing but alfalfa fields around the Section 36 school trust land when Kidsports entered its lease with the state back in 1996.

Since then, development by businesses such as Lowe's, Costco and McDonald's has driven up land values in the surrounding area.

That commercial development has been a financial boon for the city and for school trust fund coffers, but now threatens to make it harder, if not impossible, for Kidsports to be able to afford its lease following the land reappraisal.

"Land values have been going up pretty substantially and they're concerned at some point they won't be able to pay [the lease]," Collins said of the situation.

"We are, too, so we said, ‘Maybe there's a different way to make this work.' DNRC, the city and Kidsports all sat down to put our heads together to try and make this a win-win-win and that's the direction that everyone is headed."

The goal, Collins said, is to reach a solution before there is a real problem with Kidsports being able to afford its lease payment.

"We're hoping that in the next 60 to 90 days we'll have several conceptual plans and be able to identify one or two or a hybrid plan we can all support," he said. "If that's the case, we could release a [request for proposals] for development."

BY THE NUMBERS:

From April through October, the sports fields at Kidsports are used by Kalispell Pee Wee Baseball, Flathead Soccer Club, Kalispell Babe Ruth League, Kalispell Youth Softball Association, Flathead Valley Little Guy Football Association, Miracle League of Northwest Montana, Flathead High School, Glacier High School, Summit Fitness Center and the city of Kalispell.

The following estimates represent the total number of young athletes, coaches, officials and fans attending organized activities on a daily basis:

April: 1,000 weekdays, 700 on Saturdays

May: 2,250 weekdays, 7,000 on Saturdays

June: 5,350 weekdays, 5,000 on Saturdays

July: 300 weekdays, 200 on Saturdays

August: 1,000 weekdays, 5,000 on Saturdays

September: 1,000 weekdays, 7,000 on Saturdays

October: 1,000 weekdays, 7,000 on Saturdays

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.