TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – New basketball goals and “modular sports flooring” are coming to the Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka, paving the way for a variety of events to be held at the facility.
The venue is undergoing a project to resurface and renovate its main basketball court, install modular sports flooring, and obtain new basketball goals to handle the weight of a basketball dunk.
The Shawnee County Commissioners unanimously approved requests from the events center on Thursday to take out money from the 2025 capital outlay funds for the new goals and pay the remaining $464 in funds for the “modular flooring.”
The cost for two new hydraulic basketball goals from Athco was listed at $56,500. The new goals will be placed in Landon Arena. Matt Rockers, director of operations, says they did not choose the lowest bid offered because the lowest bid did not meet the project specifications and the facility would need additional space to accommodate.
To adjust for the cost of the basketball goals, the flooring was downsized from 15 youth courts to 13.
Stormont Vail Events Center General Manager Kellen Seitz said up to 13 youth basketball courts could be placed at one time in the Exhibition Hall when the new flooring is in place. Other events that could utilize the new flooring include volleyball and pickleball games.
“So, the beauty of this modular sports flooring system is it allows us to pretty much build whatever we want, right? It allows us to build volleyball courts at sizes specific to the agent play that we are playing on,” said Seitz. “What we can do is we can utilize this modular sports flooring not only for youth but for NCAA or collegiate-level athletics; volleyball; [and] basketball. We can even do indoor pickleball on the surface.”
The cost for the modular flooring from TC Armstrong was listed at $296,044, while the Landon Arena basketball court repair project from Lanford Enterprises was listed at $44,800.
The modular flooring would be available for use in both the Exhibition Hall and Landon Arena at the Stormont Vail Events Center.
The events center is now in talks with volleyball promoters, the Topeka Area Sports Commission, Visit Topeka, and others to gain local and out-of-market competitions.
In other action at Thursday’s meeting, commissioners approved:
• A Home Rule Resolution to establish the Shawnee County Property and Vehicle Insurance Committee.
• Facilities Management’s request to issue a request-for-proposal for the installation of new landscaping, irrigation and equipment screens at the Shawnee County Courthouse.
• Facilities Management to issue a request-for-proposal to replace the water softener and water heater in the kitchen at Maner Conference Center, with funding from the Maner Conference Center maintenance fund.
• Facilities Management’s request to issue a request-for-proposal to replace the existing roof on the Shawnee County Courthouse with funding from the Roof and Parking Lot fund.
• The Department of Corrections request to select the lowest responsive bid for various inmate supply purchases during Fiscal Year 2025.
• Information Technology’s request to authorize a Year 2 payment to ThinkGard LLC for purchasing backup and disaster recovery services for $119,700.
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