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Owners of Fredericksburg Field House are building a similar facility in Virginia Beach Date published: 3/10/2010
BY BILL FREEHLING The owners of the Fredericksburg Field House have started construction on a $15.7 million indoor sports complex in Virginia Beach. The 175,000-square-foot Virginia Beach Field House, whose groundbreaking was in December, is more than twice the size of the facility on Shannon Park Drive in Spotsylvania County. It's expected to open Sept. 1. The groundbreaking occurred less than five years after the opening of the Fredericksburg Field House and speaks to the success that the facility has had attracting indoor leagues, events and camps for adults and children in soccer, flag football, field hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, dodgeball, quickball and more. "This looks like a huge opportunity," John Wack said of the expansion into Virginia Beach. Wack leads a group of managing partners that includes four of his siblings. Two of the siblings, Tom and Cathy, are principals in Fredericksburg-based Wack General Contractor, which built the Spotsylvania complex and is also doing the Virginia Beach one. The Fredericksburg Field House first opened in March 2005 with two turf fields and about 37,500 square feet. It soon became evident that more space was needed, and by the end of 2006 the size had doubled. It now has five fields, including two large ones that are 82 feet by 174 feet. There are also birthday rooms, offices and a concession area. All told, the facility cost about $6.5 million. The Virginia Beach facility will have four large turf fields, eight volleyball courts and two smaller fields on a mezzanine level that will include an area for children to play and spectators to watch the games below. The new complex is in the heart of an outdoor sporting area of Virginia Beach that includes soccer, baseball and general-purpose fields. The city of Virginia Beach is leasing the land to the Wacks and their partners and is also chipping in $410,000. That money is going toward strengthening the doors, windows, electrical system and more so it could be used for an emergency shelter for the city in the event of a destructive hurricane. The Wacks and their partners struggled to find financing for the project in the midst of the credit crunch. John Wack said they'd like to build other locations in Virginia depending on the availability of financing. It's also possible that they may expand the Fredericksburg Field House to a now-open field behind the complex. Among the ideas are an outdoor turf field, a facility built more for volleyball and basketball, and an ice rink. John Wack is open to ideas, but he also wants to see profitability data. He said the Fredericksburg Field House hasn't been completely immune to the recession but noted that it has continued to grow despite the weak economy. That helped give the owners confidence to expand into the Hampton Roads market. Bill Freehling: 540/374-5405
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