Old Town Partners Get Update on

POWERplex Sports Complex Progress

By Bob Lindsey

Dan Buck told members of Old Town Partners at their monthly meeting, about the latest information on the POWERplex youth sports complex going in the former St. Louis Mills location. Buck, managing partner of Big Sports Properties, emphasized that although there are currently six other youth sports complexes around the country, the Hazelwood location for POWERplex will be “America’s premiere sports and entertainment destination” and expects it will be bigger and better than all the others.

Of the six existing facilities, four are located near major theme parks such as Disneyworld, Six Flags and Dollywood. There are two others in the Midwest that are not tied to other major entertainment centers, one in Peoria, Ill. and the other in central Indiana.

Youth sports trips have turned into vacations for the families, with annual spending around $20 billion dollars for these trips, according to Forbes Magazine. This has doubled in the last ten years, Buck noted. “After all the games, what else will they do?” asked Buck, adding that’s where the sports complexes like POWERplex can be helpful.

With a great central location for visitors, POWERplex will also be functioning as a tourist center to attract families to other great venues in St. Louis such as Busch Stadium, Grant’s Farm, Forest Park, the Magic House and the St. Louis Zoo. Buck noted that when the new North County St. Louis Zoo facility opens in three years, it will be a short ride from POWERplex to Spanish Lake. He envisions shuttle service to there as well as other attractions.

To accommodate the 2.7 million annual visitors expected to come to the Power Plex, more restaurants will open in areas outside of the sports facility. Six hotels on are already planned off Highway 370, Buck said they estimate that 75 percent of visitors at Powerplex will be from outside the area.

“We want visitors coming to St. Louis to send a few days at our youth sports events and then discover other places to go in the metro area,” said Buck. With 15 restaurants planned in the interior of the old mall, visitors could have at least one meal a day there and then head to other great restaurants and venues in the region. He said they learned that from visitors to the other youth sports complexes. Volleyball courts are already operating with regional competition. The former Mills Blues Zone is still to be used for amateur hockey games. Volleyball, baseball, basketball, softball and Pickle ball will take up the majority of the large tracts on the campus. Buck said they are meeting

with Maryland Heights and Florissant leaders to see if the cities can add fields to handle overflow of games they are expecting. The sports campus now calls for 19 ball fields, 8 artificial turf fields, 3 indoor fields with 24 batting cages and tunnels, plus a 2,200-seat stadium.

Buck highlighted some of the goals to be accomplished this year to be ready for the fall and winter indoor season. Indoor ball fields should be in place by October. Many of the indoor volleyball courts (26 planned) and 9 beach-volleyball courts are near completion. Three full size basketball courts and five 3-on-3 courts. The biggest new attraction the is the 750×300 POWERplex turf dome, 51-acres and a 120-foot roof with three full size indoor ball fields that should be finished by December.

The movie theater is expected to reopen by the end of the year. Also planned are an E-Sports venue, mini golf, term dorms, a retail zone of sports related storefronts where you can actually try equipment out, such as bats in the batting cages. A dance and cheer zone is also planned.

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