Full disclosure: Your humble narrator has been known to roll his eyes at the same heedless, utopian proposals you are about to read. And so if your first instinct is snark, cynicism or outright dismissal, you’ll get no argument from this corner.

Disclaimer aside, there’s an event happening in our corner of the world Saturday that underscores our overall dearth of sports facilities. Perhaps now that we have a mall with more overall space than some small towns — a mall growing more obsolete — there’s a marriage brewing.

Several hundred high school athletes from the Eastern Connecticut Conference will participate in the league’s indoor track championships Saturday at Coast Guard Academy. Coast Guard’s limited space forces the ECC to cap the number of spectator tickets at 300 per meet (there are separate championships for Divisions I and II), surely leaving scores of friends and relatives unable to watch. Tickets go on sale Thursday.

It’s clear the region doesn’t have an indoor track facility that can handle our high schools. That’s among the reasons several regular-season indoor track events are held at the Providence Career & Technical Institute, a 65,000-square-foot, $80-million field house with a 200-meter track, basketball courts, an indoor soccer field and seating for 1,800 fans. Nice place. But out of state.

Moreover, our hockey community can attest to the preciousness of ice time at the Norwich and Connecticut College facilities that run almost 24/7. Swimmers often point to pool access. There’s always room for more pickleball courts. And on the band plays.

Enter Crystal Mall and its more than 782,000 square feet. Oh, the sports sanctuary that could go there.

Now we pause to address the pachyderm in the province (elephant in the room): Who’s gonna pay for it?

Glad you asked. The answer: No idea. One crisis at a time, I always say. For now, I’d like to entertain the possibility of return on investment.

The rental possibilities — and the income attached — feel almost endless. It has already been established that there aren’t enough hockey facilities, among the reasons aging men have to wait until 10 p.m. for ice time. There isn’t an indoor track big enough for ECC competition and the spectators. Could you imagine a major summer AAU basketball tournament and what that would amount to in court rentals and for local hotels and eateries? Maybe a natatorium, too?

Again: There’s no denying this is a big nickel. But I’d like to think the possibilities here are tied to our needs — and not simply our whims. At least should generate some discussion. If Orlando can have the Wide World of Sports, why can’t Waterford have Play It All At The Former Mall? I’m telling you: An investor (or 12) who understands sports properties and rentals might do well here.

We’ve already seen one high school sport around here outgrow all existing local high school and college facilities: basketball. In 2018, the Waterford/East Lyme boys’ championship game drew 1,800 to the Francis X. Sweeney Fieldhouse in Waterford with 1,000 more left outside. The next year, the ECC title game moved to Mohegan Sun Arena and drew more than 3,000 fans.

We are lucky to have such good neighbors and partners in the Mohegans, who open their arena — and their arms — to the kids regularly. Mohegan even set a state indoor volleyball attendance record last October when 1,500 watched The Day Volleyball Invitational.

The larger point: Were it not for the Mohegan Tribe and their 10,000-seat arena, the games our kids play would be available for a smaller percentage of the population to watch. The concept of turning the Crystal Mall property into something practical, functional and beneficial to a good chunk of the population ought to be explored.

If it’s not feasible, at least we had the conversation. Sports are a growing industry everywhere now. We have the space, the parking and the need. Now all you rich people start talking.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro