New Lenox’s new sports complex at I-355 ‘off to a great start’

The village of New Lenox will host an open house for its new state-of-the art sports complex in June.

An open house of the field portion of the Wintrust New Lenox Crossroads Sports Complex will be from 5 to 9 p.m. June 28 and from noon to 4 p.m. June 29.

The open house will include kids activities, New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann said.

The new sports complex is located directly across the street from Silver Cross Hospital, which is one of the sponsors, Baldermann said.

“We invite anyone from anywhere to come for free and see the complex, and participate in the activities,” Baldermann said. “And then the first tournament will follow on the weekend of Fourth of July.”

Baldermann said Perfect Game USA is bringing “at least” 96 teams to that tournament.

The village could have started booking tournaments in May but “wanted to do something for the community first,” he said.

“The community from anywhere – not just New Lenox,” Baldermann said.

Complex features

The sports complex – with Northern Builders as general contractor – sits at the crossroads of Interstate 355 and Illinois Route 6, and in the region of Interstates 80, 55 and 57. For more than 600,000 Illinois residents, the complex is just 20 minutes away.

Fourteen acres of the commercial space is for a hotel, retail and restaurants; the village is currently working with multiple tenants through letters of agreement, Baldermann said.

In addition to the 1.5 million square feet of playing fields – which will be made with artificial turf to improve drainage and make playing easier after inclement weather – the sports complex also will include a welcome center, a beer garden with a restaurant, two concession stands, a playground and 10 batting cages when it opens in June, he said.

The project also includes a new mile of road, a 1,400-space parking lot, and development space for a hotel and retail and restaurant space.

Baldermann said the village has a contract with a 147-room dual-brand hotel on the site.

“They’re working with their architect right now,” Baldermann said. “So they should be starting construction this summer.”

The project’s second phase will be a 140,000-square-foot fieldhouse for indoor sports: basketball, volleyball, pingpong, wrestling and pickleball.

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The fieldhouse will include restaurants and a terrace “where people can look down on the courts,” Baldermann said.

“That’s probably two to three years out,” he said, adding that the village is waiting on revenue from commercial property.

But the outdoor fields – nine full-sized baseball fields that can be broken down to 29 individual fields – is currently booked for the remainder of the summer and the fall and all the way to June 30, 2026, Baldermann said.

Although the original plan called for 10 full-sized baseball fields, the new plan is to reevaluate after the first season, he said.

“We’re going to see after a season of play if we need to construct that 10th field or if it would be better so served as additional parking,” Baldermann said.

In the meantime, these nine full-sized baseball fields can be used as 29 youth fields as well as 12 soccer or lacrosse fields for local teams and for travel sports tournaments.

“We’re off to a great start,” Baldermann said.

Economic impact

The project has attracted a half-million dollars worth of sponsors – including the naming sponsor Wintrust – for terms that stretch from five to 10 years, Baldermann said.

Although the village owns the sports complex property and is funding the $100 million cost of the project, Baldermann said residents won’t see a tax increase.

“We already have the funding for the $70 million outdoor portion,” Baldermann said, later adding, “We’ve collected over half a million dollars a year in sponsorships, which will bring in revenue exceeding a half a million dollars a year for terms that stretch from five or seven years.”

The Wintrust New Lenox Crossroads Sports Complex of New Lenox development is expected to have a $12 million economic impact in its first year, increasing to $20 million by its third year and then $34 million once the fieldhouse in completed.

For more information, visit newlenox.net.