Courtesy PA Dutch CVB
A former distribution center that will become one of the country’s largest indoor sports complexes. A new YMCA, set to become a regional center for swimming competitions. A cutting-edge California sports center that likes to call itself the Disneyland of Indoor Sports.
These are just a few of the sports facilities that have recently opened or are being built in America’s second-tier and smaller cities.
Here is a look at some of the projects.
The East
BANGOR, Maine — A new downtown arena and convention center will bring more sports and meeting business to downtown Bangor when it opens in September.
The Cross Insurance Center will replace the old, outdated Bangor Auditorium, which will be demolished in May to make room for more parking.
The Cross center will have a 6,000-seat arena and 45,000 square feet of meeting space. There will be luxury boxes, two party suites and parking for more than 3,000 vehicles.
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The SRC Arena and Events Center Complex at Onondaga Community College seems to cover all the bases. Opened in late 2011, the complex has, at its centerpiece, a 100,000-square-foot arena and event center with seating for up to 6,500.
The arena can go in several directions. A six-lane, 200-meter rubberized track with two pole vault and two long jump locations turns the arena into a venue for track and field. Three basketball courts can be converted to three tennis courts or three volleyball courts.
Adjacent to the center is a new 2,000-seat outdoor, turf stadium for lacrosse and soccer.
The complex is within Onondaga Community College’s suburban, residential campus, where, during the summer, more than 500 beds are available for sports camps and competitions.
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LANCASTER, Pa. — The $25 million Spooky Nook Sports Complex will become the home of the U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey team.
USA Field Hockey announced the move in late January, a few months before Spooky Nook’s planned March opening. Facilities for field hockey won’t be ready until later this summer.
A USA Field Hockey official called the facility, tailored from an old distribution center, one of the most spectacular in the country.
It is a perfect location given the popularity of field hockey in the Lancaster region.
During the project’s second phase, nine outdoor turf fields for field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, football, baseball, softball and other sports will be built.
Spooky Nook’s indoor facilities include 10 maple hardwood volleyball and basketball courts, six tennis courts, four turf-field hockey courts, baseball pitching lanes and batting cages, a climbing walls with obstacles and a boulder climbing area.
Nook Sports also is considering a third phase to turn the other half of the building into a conference center or dormitory-style housing for athletes competing in multiday camps, tournaments and clinics.
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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A 6,000-seat ice hockey arena scheduled to open in time for this fall’s Penn State hockey team’s season is being touted as one of the finest facilities of its kind.
Pegula Ice Arena, a 200,000-square foot, multi-purpose facility, is being built on the University Park campus. Its two sheets of ice will allow it to be used for campus and community activities, from commencement ceremonies to public skating sessions and camps.
The arena will also be able to host events such as National Hockey League and American Hockey League exhibition games.
