Developers break ground for Fieldhouse Sportscenter

Developers are breaking ground in southwest Springfield today for a roughly $5 million athletic facility development called The Fieldhouse Sportscenter.

According to a Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce news release, the ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Kingsley Avenue and Cox Road, southwest of the Kansas Expressway and James River Freeway interchange.

The 46,000-square-foot complex is designed to hold four basketball courts, six volleyball courts, four party rooms, an arcade and The Fieldhouse Grill, the release said. Operators plan to conduct youth basketball and volleyball leagues, as well as tournaments and instructional camps.

Area sports tournament organizer Hoops Midwest is on board to manage the athletic activities at The Fieldhouse, said Mike Edwards, a co-founder of Hoops Midwest and a co-owner of the planned complex.

Edwards and Hoops Midwest co-owner Steve Reith, who also works as a real estate broker/owner with Battlecreek Properties Inc., have partnered with Dr. Craig Naugle of Ozarks Dermatology Specialists to develop The Fieldhouse.

“Right now, we rent facilities for our tournaments,” Edwards said, pointing to rental agreements with the Ozark Community Center and Logan-Rogersville school gyms.

Hoops Midwest manages 25 to 30 tournaments a year, he said, and the company has five tournaments in seven weeks to finish the summer schedule.

“We’re anxious to get in there and to hear the balls bounce and sneakers squeak,” said Edwards, who spent 32 years in radio and hosted a sports talk show on Jock 98.7.

Edwards said project general contractor Morelock-Ross Builders Inc. is estimating completion in early April.

Naugle, the majority owner, said the development on eight acres is funded by a U.S. Small Business Administration-guaranteed loan through Springfield First Community Bank. Through Midwest Events Center LLC, Naugle bought the property in the fall from Ngo Properties LLC. The independent physician said project architect H Design Group created the plans with room to add four courts.

“Even though it’s a privately funded facility, I’d like to think of what the community really wants,” Naugle said. “We have room there to do anything – a turf facility, more gyms for basketball and volleyball.”

The land, adjacent to Springfield Office Supply, was appraised this year by the Greene County assessor for $1.1 million.[[In-content Ad]]