Boone County is purchasing Rivershore Sports Park for $750,000

Boone County is purchasing Rivershore Sports Park to expand its park footprint.

Located at 7842 River Road in Hebron, the 38-acre Rivershore Sports Park features six youth baseball fields – four of which have LED stadium lighting for hosting night games – a paved parking lot, a pavilion building, a concession stand, a storage shed and newly built toilets.

Participation in Boone County’s youth sports programs is increasing, according to parks director David Whitehouse. This increase in engagement coincides with Hebron’s growth as a community. As a result, Boone County Parks was looking for another youth sports program facility in Hebron that could be used on a regular basis.

“If you go to Central Park (in Union) now, there’s someone on every field and we play multiple games there every night,” Whitehouse said.

On Tuesday, the Boone County Tax Court passed a resolution approving the purchase of Rivershore Sports Park for $750,000 from the Boone County Knothole Association, a nonprofit youth baseball organization.

“The complex and associated assets have been extremely valued for our program and have the potential to provide the people of Boone County with even more programming, passive recreation and a connection to the river in addition to the already valuable athletic fields and facilities,” said Matthew Webster , Boone County Administrator.

Webster said Boone County Knothole contacted county staff two years ago and told them the association could no longer manage or outsource the facility. The Boone County Parks Department had been leasing the complex from Boone County Knothole for the past several years.

Last summer, Boone County Knothole informed county staff of its intention to sell the property. They would have preferred to offer it to the county before putting it on the open market in 2025, Webster said.

When Boone County learned of this, it hired a state-qualified real estate appraiser to assess the property’s value. The appraiser estimated the property’s value at $880,600. If the land is vacant, its estimated value is $565,000.

By comparison, if the county were to purchase the property and build new facilities, the assessed value of the property and assets would be $2.35 million.

Webster noted that Boone County’s 2024-2025 budget includes a line item that would fund the acquisition.

“There is no negative impact on the approved budget,” Webster said.

Through the existing lease agreement, Boone County allows youth baseball and football programs to use Rivershore’s facilities. Whitehouse said Rivershore has already hosted 64 youth soccer practices in October.

“The benefit – having four lighted baseball fields is a great addition to our county,” Whitehouse said.

Boone County Judge and Executive Gary Moore called the acquisition a “no-brainer.”

“We have more kids and need youth programs than we have fields now,” Moore said. “To ensure that these fields remain operational and we can control their scheduling, six fields; We know we couldn’t build it for that cost.”

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