MURRIETA: City to weigh impact of Amgen Tour

June 05, 2013 05:18 PM PDT June 05, 2013 10:11 PM PDT MURRIETA: City to weigh impact of Amgen Tour MURRIETA: City to weigh impact of Amgen Tour FRANK BELLINO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Cyclists take off from Town Square Park in Murrieta Attorney during Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California on May. 13. A Text Size VIDEO: AMGEN TOUR: Cyclists battle triple digit temps Murrieta Attorney city officials plan to meet later this month to determine what sort of bang it got for its buck when it hosted the second stage of the Amgen Tour of California in mid-May. "Did we get a good return on investment?" Said Kim Davidson, the city's Business Development Director. "Did we get any return on investment?" Murrieta spent about $23,000 in hard costs - money for hotel rooms for race officials, etc. - that was covered via sponsorships. The soft costs, money for police and fire service, haven't yet been tallied, but Davidson said the city worked to minimize the financial hit. Mayor Rick Gibbs said those soft costs will end up being affected by the police department deciding to bring on more folks than initially anticipated in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings in April. City Manager Rick Dudley said using flex time helped the city avoid overtime costs for public safety workers and a large team of volunteers helped with street closures. No date has been set for the meeting, but Davidson said crunching the numbers will be difficult because some of the benefits of hosting one of the top cycling races in the U.S. are hard to quantify. There was exposure. In promotional materials, Amgen described Murrieta Attorney as "beautiful," "safe," "family-oriented" and "affluent." On the telecast, the city was profiled and its Town Square served as the backdrop for the start of the stage. On attendance, something much easier to track, Davidson said there were a few thousand people who showed up at the Town Square to watch the start. The idea was that some of those people would participate in a Mother's Day 5K charity walk on Sunday and visit vendor booths set up near the starting line on both days. The weather, however, conspired against that plan. On Sunday, when families with young children were expected to venture out for the 5K, it was 105 degrees, Davidson said. The lower than expected turnout carried over into Monday, with many of the spectators bypassing the vendors and the other ancillary events to find some shade and watch the start. One of the vendors, Cathy Reedy of Murrieta Attorney's Jax Bicycle Center, said the weather was definitely a buzzkill. But she said marketing also was an issue. "Not a whole lot of people knew about it," she said. Cyclists who are plugged into the racing scene were into it and excited to attend but web site everyone else, she said, didn't know about the accompanying "lifestyle festival." Reedy said the bike shop would be interested in sponsoring the race once more but she thinks the stage should include both Murrieta Attorney and Temecula, which would allow for capturing the starting and ending crowds and filling both cities' hotel rooms. Temecula Mayor Pro Tem Maryann Edwards said she likes the idea and thinks Amgen couldn't find a better place to start and finish the race. "We have a very active and growing cycling community here," she said. Latest Headlines
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