GREENWOOD, Ind. — The Greenwood Fieldhouse opens to the public next Friday, May 6.
But we're giving you a first look inside the new $9 million community recreation facility.
It's a project years in the making, that sits on the old Greenwood Middle School site. When you walk into the Fieldhouse, you'll notice right away the clear nod to the property's past.
"I mean, this was the old Greenwood Middle School and also formerly the high school before that, as well. So there's a lot of tributes being paid to that. So this is the existing facade of the building," said Greenwood Parks & Recreation Director Rob Taggart, pointing out the brick wall in the lobby. "And of course the gym floor up there, that came from... that's the floor from the south gymnasium. We reconstructed that into a sign."
"This was my school," said Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers. "I remember walking to school every day, playing in the gym here. It's all the history and I want to see it continue to grow."
The Greenwood Fieldhouse is a 65,000-square-foot modern recreation center for activities, tournaments and events, indoors, year-round. It's a real first for Greenwood.
"Now we can start having serious conversations about hosting tournaments and events here," Taggart said. "We're a contender."
Taggart took 13News on a tour of the facility, which includes a large turf field right off the lobby.
"This is the indoor turf field. This has been regulation sized for futsal. It's kind of a small, miniaturized soccer," he explained. "Any field activity on here as well, from lacrosse to soccer to baseball practice or softball practice."
The Fieldhouse also features a rubberized sports court for basketball, pickleball and volleyball.
There's also the main gym, with another court for pickleball, basketball and volleyball, with bleachers from the old middle school for spectators.
"Big time bonus for us to have spectator seating. Again, parents are gonna love watching their kids play. And this is an offering we're really looking forward to having," Taggart said.
A second turf field is another flexible space, with electronically controlled, drop-down batting cages. It can house baseball, softball and lacrosse.
A program room can be rented out for events or used for fitness classes and youth summer camps.
Surrounding the court spaces, there's also a walking and running track. That's something Taggart said Greenwood residents have been requesting for a long time.
Fitness equipment, like stretching cages and bicycles, line the one-tenth-mile track.
One of the most popular draws, Taggart predicts, will be the golf simulators.
Three bays, each with a simulator, will be available for rental and for competitive leagues.
"It's got loads of courses, I think it's 40 golf courses loaded onto it, driving ranges in all different settings and then there's youth programs as well," Taggart said.
There's more history preserved in the facility's hallways.
A "hallway of fame," so to speak, features trophy cases and record boards from the middle school.
More than 100 Greenwood athletes' images in collages will eventually adorn the walls there.
"We certainly wanted to theme this hallway this space to represent all the accolades of the former school and what was here," Taggard said.
The Fieldhouse is just part one of a multi-million dollar development project for Old Town Greenwood, with more to come in the coming months and years next door along Madison Avenue.
"We'll have 320-plus apartments down here, 18 townhouses. We'll have 44 to 50 condominums," Myers explained.
He said some of the apartments will start leasing late next year.
A parking garage is set to open this summer. Office, restaurant and retail space is planned as part of the development, as well.
All of it is anchored by the Fieldhouse, all in hopes of drawing more people to downtown Greenwood.
"We're breathing life back into downtown is what we want to do and this facility is going to be a huge part of it," Myers said.
The grand opening for the facility is set for next Friday at 11:00 a.m. A public tour will follow the ribbon cutting.
To learn more about The Greenwood Fieldhouse, including rental rates, memberships and day passes, click here.
