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Highlands Today

Hotel Owners Want To Save Ellingsworth's Position

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: June 30, 2008

SEBRING — In a closed-door meeting last week, the owners and/or general managers of the top five hotels in this city met privately with new Highlands County administrator Michael Wright to make one request: don't get rid of Rocky Ellingsworth, the Highlands County Sports Complex manager.

The hotel owners and managers all told Wright that Ellingsworth is almost single handedly responsible for filling most of their hotel rooms on many off-season weekends because he brings in first-class softball and baseball tournaments.

They also said that league and tournament directors who had tournaments at the sports complex have told them they will cancel their tournament dates and hotel accommodations for the fall if Ellingsworth loses his job here.

Many of the hotel owners and managers also said they've been told that some tournaments will leave and never come back if Ellingsworth isn't working here, and the teams will travel to whatever new location Ellingsworth works in to hold their weekend tournaments there.

At least two county commissioners, Guy Maxcy and Andy Jackson, said their No. 1 concern about the new county budget is finding a way to either keep Ellingsworth, or fill his manager's position with somebody else.

Without a professional sports complex manager who is at least as capable and professional as Ellingsworth, the county faces what Maxcy and Jackson called the nightmare scenario of seeing the most expensive county recreation project in the county's history turn into a horrible failure.

Wright told Highlands Today Monday that he not only understands but also agrees with the hotel owners' concerns about losing the first real off-season weekend business boom, which has come because of the tournaments lined up by the sports complex manager.

"They have very legitimate concerns," Wright said about his private meeting with the six hotel officials, which began at 2 p.m. last Thursday.

"I'm familiar with what bringing in large-scale sports tournaments to a small town means," he added. "And what it means is you then have a lot of out-of-town folks coming to your town who would never have a reason to come here, especially in the summer months when the hotel business is normal down."

Wright said he needs a few weeks to study all of his options and make a recommendation to the five-member board of county commissioners on what to do about the sports complex manager's job."

"I told them (hotel owners and managers) that I am committed to bringing quality, large-scale tournaments," Wright added. "Now, how we continue to do that, I don't know yet, because I'm also facing some pretty stiff budget issues."

Last month, Vicki Pontius, the county's director of the parks and recreation department, announced that her proposed fiscal year 2008-09 budget includes eliminating the sports complex manager's job to save money.

"My thoughts," Commissioner Guy Maxcy said, "are that I'm going to talk to Mike Wright about the budget this week, and when I do, the No. 1 concern I have about the budget is the sports complex manager's job."

Because the county had to borrow $6.4 million to build the complex and promised the taxpayers that it will generate tourist dollars and pay for itself, Maxcy said, "it cannot fail."

In order for the sports complex to keep succeeding, Maxcy said, the county must have Ellingsworth, or somebody else who is just as professional in the field of recreation management, to continue marketing the complex.

Jackson was even more adamant about not cutting the sports complex manager's position, say that he will vote against passing the entire county budget for fiscal year 2008-09 if the position is eliminated.

"I care about this issue deeply, because it's a very important facility and it needs to succeed," Jackson said. He said he's talked to Wright and told him that somebody, whether it's Ellingsworth or somebody else with adequate professional credentials, must manage the sports complex full time.

Because the county's tax payers are paying $500,000 a year for 20 years to have the sports complex, Jackson said, "it has to draw many large tournaments, and it cannot fail."

Jackson, the chairman of the county's Tourist Development Council, said the sports complex project was sold to the citizens on the basis that it would boost the local economy and fill up hotels and restaurants in the off season.

"It was supposed to pay about half the cost to build it from the fees it charges," Jackson said. "And, hopefully, it will put a lot of 'heads in beds,' put people in hotel rooms, especially in the off-season months."

Tenille Lee, sales manager at Kenilworth Lodge, said the entire Kenilworth management team wants to see Ellingsworth keep his job and continue to bring in large softball and baseball tournaments.

"I definitely want to see Rocky stay and so does the owner, Mark Stewart," Lee said.

Treasa Hammand, general manager of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, said players and tournament directors have told her the only reason they came to Sebring is that Ellingsworth is here, and they'll never come back again if he's booted out of his job.

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 386-5855 or at jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com.

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