Group looking to build Joliet hoops complex PLAINFIELD COMPANY

Group looking to build Joliet hoops complex PLAINFIELD COMPANY
Publication: Herald News, The (Joliet, IL) Section: MAIN Page: A1 By: By Bob Okon

JOLIET - A local group wants to build an indoor basketball complex for a mix of pick-up games, league play and instructional camps. The facility would combine open play for walk-ins with memberships for players who want to develop their skills in leagues or through special training.
The project is unique in its devotion primarily to basketball, said Bill Leach with Premiere Hoops out of Plainfield. Premiere Hoops would own and operate the facility.
"We'll have pick-up basketball, referees, shot clocks - the whole gamut," Leach told the Joliet City Council on Monday. Premiere Hoops is seeking city council approval for a 23,300-square-foot facility to be built at U.S. 6 and McClintock Road in a development known as City's Edge Commercial Park.

The council could vote on the plan at its regular meeting today.
Leach said the facility, including parking for 137 vehicles, would cost about $2.6 million to build and could be completed in 2008 if construction starts this fall. Proposed features include two NBA regulation-sized basketball courts and stadium-style seating for 144 spectators.
The courts could be divided into four smaller courts, and the complex also would have a fitness center, conference room, and juice bar with sandwich shop. Leach said the only similar facility in the region is the training academy in Lisle associated with the Chicago Bulls.
Council members asked questions about admission fees and parking without suggesting whether they were likely to vote for the project. City staff recommended approval of the plan, and City Manager John Mezera described the proposed complex as "a real nice facility."
Premiere Hoops would acquire nearly 3 acres of land for the project.