COEUR d'ALENE - Event center construction and management experts told North Idaho College trustees Wednesday that the Atlas Mill site is the best location for the college to build its own sports complex and event center.

Two sites have been considered for a proposed event center, the 25-acre mill site along the Spokane River, and a spot in the Riverstone retail and residential development.

About 10 acres, the Riverstone location isn't large enough for an event center, said John Frew, president and CEO of Frew Development Group, a project and construction management company that specializes in convention and event centers. Frew's company has offices in Denver and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and they've built event facilities in multiple states.

"You're hemmed in by development (at the Riverstone site), so you don't have nearly enough flexibility... This will not allow you any room to grow," Frew told trustees during the monthly board meeting.

Frew and representatives from VenuWorks, an event center management company based in Ames, Iowa, were hired by the college after a 17-member volunteer ad hoc committee recommended in August that the college give further consideration to developing an event center. The consultants were tasked with reviewing a 2008 feasibility study that determined Coeur d'Alene can support a sports complex and event center, and then determining today's best options for the location, size, number of seats, concessions and parking for a new facility.

The full cost of the new study was underwritten by a donation made to the North Idaho College Foundation. The donor, Doug Parker, owner of Parker Toyota in Coeur d'Alene, came forward last summer and announced he was trying to purchase 22 waterfront acres along the Spokane River to donate to NIC to use for the event center. The land is now owned by Washington Trust Bank.

Frew recommended that the proposed event center's size be scaled back from the 6,000 seats in the original planning discussions. He recommended they consider building a 3,000-seat, 80,000-square-foot center offering a multi-purpose arena with several suites, meeting spaces, an amphitheater, a commissary and kitchen facilities. "A great opportunity you have is to marry your culinary students to the commissary," Frew said.

The facility should offer on-site parking, Frew said, and North Idaho College's athletic department and teams would be located on the site.

At 3,000 seats, the center would meet the threshold for National Junior College Athletic Association events, Frew said, and offer a venue in the region that's larger than the INB Performing Arts Center in Spokane, and smaller than the Spokane arena. It could be built at a cost of $18-$28 million, depending on the type of construction selected.

The plan also calls for the college's Professional Technical Education programs to be located on the 25-acre mill site, alongside the event center. The benefit, Frew said, is that the event center and the PTE building could share the cost of developing the infrastructure. There are another 5 acres that Frew suggested the college could consider leasing in the future, which would generate revenue for NIC.

Frew recommended the trustees secure the Atlas Mill property, and said they should confirm that the city of Coeur d'Alene and its urban renewal agency, the Lake City Development Corp., will support the development of the center. The mill site land needs to be annexed into the city, and be part of an urban renewal district, so it can take advantage of tax-increment financing to help fund the project.

NIC has a $10 million pledge from LCDC for the event center, but has to raise $5 million of its own before LCDC will put in its share.

Frew suggested they consider allowing the NIC Foundation to own the facility, making it possible for the tax-deductible donations to be made to the event center.

NIC passed a resolution earlier this year that said the college would be interested in building a facility provided NIC could operate the facility but not have taxpayers responsible for footing the bill.

Joe Briglia of VenuWorks said it's unlikely a new event center would break even the first few years, but said that by about the third year, it should.

The cost of operating the event center is estimated to be roughly $270,000 per year, Briglia said. He also said that amount can be reduced if the college considers sharing existing personnel and other resources it already has to help maintain and operate the center. Naming rights and sponsorships could also significantly reduce the operating costs, he said.