Peru unveils plan to build sports complex to attract tens of thousands of visitors to region

Minutes after the city of Peru unveiled a plan Monday to build a regional sports complex and city center, equipped with not only sports facilities, but also a retail plaza, amphitheater, residential housing, restaurants and a hotel, Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bill Zens called the project “the spark the region needs.”

The project’s goal is to create an economic engine by building a multifaceted indoor, outdoor sports complex between Plank Road, 36th Street, Midtown Road and Peoria Street that would attract tens of thousands of visitors to the region for travel youth sports, Eric Carls told the Peru City Council on Monday. The plan will seek private equity for funding.

With the number of visitors the sports complex is expected to attract, the complex would include a hotel for visitors to stay, restaurants for them to eat, retail for them to shop and outdoor recreation, such as an outdoor amphitheater, a recreational lake and waterpark.

“This project is extremely exciting,” Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski said. “You can’t even put it into words. It’s exciting for small businesses, existing businesses, attracting new businesses and attracting the larger national retailers. Everybody wants a Portillo’s or Chick-Fil-A, they won’t look at us. Now a Portillo’s or something like that, a national chain is going to say ‘How many people are coming to that town?’ on that weekend?”

Zens told the council from a quick search he said 500,000 people per year visit a sports complex in Peoria, 1.4 million a year are attracted to the Quad Cities facility and 400,000 people traveled to Naperville’s complex. City officials said Peru is situated between Chicago, Quad Cities, Peoria, Bloomington-Normal and Rockford, making it ideal to attract from various metropolitan areas.

“You park us right in the middle of that, and you talk about millions of people that can come here,” Zens said.

City officials said the project will not be just for visitors, but also to enhance the quality of life in Peru. Residents will be able to use the indoor/outdoor facilities and the city’s trail system will connect to the complex. It also will fill the void of offering multifamily housing.

A committee of elected officials have started meeting in the planning stages for the project, including Kolowski, Alderman Andy Moreno, city staff Carls, Scott Schweickert, Tracy Mitchell, consultants Jacob & Klein, BCA Architects, Chamlin & Associates, and community members Mark Grzybowski, Jim Hermes and Mike Schmidt.

More meetings are expected to move the project forward, including some that will be open to the public. The city will develop its requests for proposals in November and release them in January. The goal is to find an equity partner by June, finalize the design and permits by August and break ground sometime around July 2026.

Schweickert said the project fits Peru’s identity.

“I see our identity being our regionality,” Schweickert said. “From the beginning from our founding, it was our location that was important. ... It’s always been we’re a regional hub.”