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Renovations to develop an indoor soccer dome at the former Big Rock Climbing Gym are underway.
SBJ photo by WES HAMILTON
Renovations to develop an indoor soccer dome at the former Big Rock Climbing Gym are underway.

McQuearys developing soccer dome at former climbing gym

Posted online

Billy McQueary, his father Rick and brother-in-law Andy Nicholson are developing an indoor soccer dome at the site of the shuttered Big Rock Climbing Gym.

Through SDV2 LLC, the trio last month bought the nearly 24,000-square-foot building at 916 N. Cedarbrook Ave. from Dave Kent. A deed of trust filed Nov. 1 with the Greene County recorder lists the note amount at $500,000 for the property.

Billy McQueary said renovations are underway to create The Old Soccer Dome, a training facility for Greenwood Laboratory School students and Magic Soccer Club players. The nearby Lake Country Soccer will be able to utilize the facility in the future, he said.

McQueary, who played soccer at Greenwood and now coaches a middle school team there, said the dome will not charge usage fees for Greenwood and Magic Soccer Club players. He sees the dome, which won’t initially produce revenue, as a way to give back to the community.

“They definitely needed an indoor training facility that they could use in the off-season,” he said, noting the dome may be rented out in the future for public events. “There’s so many kids playing soccer now.”

Calhoun, Georgia-based Shaw Sports Turf, which McQueary said installed turf fields at Missouri State University, currently is retrofitting the dome. He expects the turf to be in place within a few days, and with other renovations by Nesbitt Construction Inc., the dome should open in November. An estimated cost was not indicated on the building permit on file with Springfield Building Development Services.

McQueary said The Old Soccer Dome would have one full-size field that can be split into units, as well as a separate smaller field.

Big Rock Climbing Gym, which closed a few years ago, opened in 1999 and was formerly known as Petra Rock Climbing Gym Inc., according to Springfield Business Journal archives. The building has since been used for storage and manufacturing purposes, McQueary said, noting the tenants moved out in conjunction with the purchase.

The building has a history with soccer. It had been used as a soccer dome before operations ceased in the late 1980s, McQueary said.

“I grew up playing soccer there,” he said.

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