SAY NO TO OUTDOORS RETAIL SUBSIDIES

Article published September 14, 2006

Bass Pro education facility in Rossford to get $1million
State also approves rebate of sales tax

By JENNIFER FEEHAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER


The state is sweetening the pot for Bass Pro Outdoor World LLC to locate a $50 million retail development in Rossford.

Gov. Bob Taft announced yesterday that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources had committed $1 million to help develop an outdoor education center at the Bass Pro store proposed for the Crossroads of America off I-75 near the Ohio Turnpike.

The Department of Development also notified Wood County officials late yesterday that Bass Pro had qualified for a rebate of up to 75 percent of the county's 1 percent sales tax on sales made at the new store for up to 10 years or until the megasports outfitter had recouped its development costs.

"This clearly is an important step in the right direction with a little bit of additional good news in that the state Department of Natural Resources sees value to this project as well," Wood County Commissioner Tim Brown said.

State Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowl-ing Green), who has been working for more than eight years to land Bass Pro, said the $1 million from ODNR would come from hunting and fishing license fees and from federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment that is rebated to the state based on the number of hunting and fishing licenses it sells.

Mr. Latta said that money often is funneled to ODNR projects in other parts of the state. But under this proposal, local anglers and hunters would see some of the dollars they spend come back to the area.

"This would be a perfect fit," he said.

"I think it's great news for the local sportsmen in the area," Commissioner Jim Carter added.

Rick Ferguson, owner of Szuch Live Bait on Corduroy Road in Jerusalem Township, said he likes the idea that the money will be coming back to the area, but he would prefer to see it spent on educational endeavors, not bricks and mortar.

"If it's for education, I'm all for the kids. But if they're giving it to them to just build, then I've got a problem with it," Mr. Ferguson said. "It's kind of a double-edged sword for me because it's going to hurt my business if they open here."

ODNR spokesman Jane Beathard said a similar deal was given to Bass Pro when it located a store off I-275 near Cincinnati. Money generated from Ohio hunting and fishing licenses as well as the state's share of a federal tax on hunting equipment was used to pay for a large aquarium and an interpretative kiosk in the educational section of the store.

She said Ohio law forbids the use of the money to subsidize Bass Pro's retail operations. Although ODNR has underwritten native wildlife displays at Ohio zoos and at COSI, the Bass Pro projects are the only instances where the department has joined forces with a retailer.

"By Ohio law, outdoor education is one of the purposes for money generated by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses," she said. "It promotes hunting and fishing because it promotes outdoors education and the development of outdoor skills.

"They teach everything from nature interpretation to angling skills and hunting safety," she said.

County commissioners said they planned to get a letter off to Bass Pro today letting the company know that it had qualified for the sales tax rebate outlined in a new state law that was crafted specifically to attract Bass Pro.

The law applies to retail and entertainment facilities deemed impact facilities if they invest at least $50 million within two years, draw more than 50 percent of their customers from at least 100 miles away, dedicate at least 10 percent of their facility to educational and exhibition space, and maintain a minimum employment level of 150 full-time equivalent workers.

"Now that the Department of Development has said it is an official impact facility, that clears the way to negotiate with Bass Pro as to the percentage of tax and length of time," Mr. Carter said.

The timetable for the project will be up to Bass Pro, Mr. Brown said.

"When we got their letter notifying us of their interest, we Federal Expressed it down to the state for consideration, and we will act immediately again to notify Bass Pro that we have received the green light to negotiate," Mr. Brown. "We are acting as quickly as we can."

In Bass Pro's application for the sales tax rebate, it outlined plans for a 150,000 to 180,000-square-foot restaurant and retail store that would "offer northwest Ohio's largest selection of quality outdoor gear, clothing, and accessories from leading industry names, including equipment and clothing for fishing, hunting, boating, hiking, backpacking, wildlife viewing, outdoor cooking, and more."

The store also would feature a gift and nature center, a large boat showroom, an 18,000-gallon aquarium, and native wildlife and artifact displays.

Other features planned at the Rossford store are "museum-quality wildlife dioramas, huge murals and chandeliers depicting outdoor scenes, massive log and rock work, waterfalls and other water features, and aquariums stocked with native fish species."

Exhibition and recreation space would include climbing walls, archery ranges, fine gun rooms, NASCAR shops, and a laser arcade.

The company said it planned to offer free outdoor-skills workshops and invite scout, school, and church groups to the store for field trips.

Bass Pro expects the development to create the equivalent of 250 full-time jobs

Jim Provance of The Blade's Columbus bureau contributed to this report.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at:
jfeehan@theblade.com
or 419-353-5972.