Arena Sports to break ground on a 98,000 SF sports and entertainment center.
Two projects aimed at bolstering recreational opportunities in and around Mill Creek are moving forward.
One is a private venture that could begin construction in the next few days; the other is a series of improvements at the city-owned Mill Creek Sports Park.
Arena Sports on Wednesday announced it will soon break ground on its largest project to date, a 98,000-square-foot sports and entertainment center that will include indoor soccer fields, bowling lanes, laser tag, an inflatable playground, more than 100 arcade games, a rock-climbing tower and a ropes course, as well as a pizza restaurant, community and corporate meeting space and rooms to host parties. Soccer fields also can be used for lacrosse.
“We have all the permits. We are waiting for the weather to cooperate,” said Don Crowe, CEO of Arena Sports. “They are getting mobile.”
Company officials hope the center, which will be called Arena Sports and Entertainment, will open in October, before winter seasons start. The complex is being built on a 6.7-acre site near the intersection of Dumas Road and the Bothell-Everett Highway. It also is close to the Mill Creek Sports Park and Henry M. Jackson High School. Arena Sports had been eyeing the land for more than four years.
The $17 million project calls for a workforce of 200. The site would be open seven days a week.
Crowe said an experienced staff will be brought in to lead the Mill Creek site.
“Most of our management teams started on the front lines, either as a coach or referee or in customer service,” he said. “We hire from within primarily.”
Arena Sports considered other locations, but Mill Creek topped the list from the beginning because of its growing family population and strong participation in youth and adult sports. Company leaders say they hope to attract about a million visits a year, mainly in off-peak traffic hours on nights and weekends.
Mill Creek would be the fifth and largest indoor sports location for Arena Sports. The Redmond-based company expects roughly half of its business to be special events and parties at the Mill Creek complex.
MG2 is the project architect.
“The building is designed to be a soccer-first facility, while also providing a lively off-the-field experience for guests,” MG2 CEO Mitch Smith said in a news release. “In that way, the space becomes a year-round destination both for sports and entertainment.”
The Mill Creek site would include men’s, women’s and co-ed adult leagues as well as competitive and recreational youth leagues…
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