From Susan Tuz of the New Milford Spectrum:
As the end of a dream comes to the owner of one indoor sports complex in New Milford, another is poised to open in the same Still River district.
Connecticut Sport Complex on Lanesville Road has shut its doors. Owner Karl Noivadhana sent a recent e-mail informing his “loyal customers and friends… I am not generating enough revenue to keep it going.”
Mr. Noivadhana, 54, thanked everyone for their support over the nearly seven years he has had the business. He had seen his dream of an indoor, all-weather soccer complex come true when he opened the doors of the Lanesville Road complex in New Milford in October 2002.
The recession has had its effect, however, and, with players of soccer, field hockey, flag football and lacrosse not turning out to play those sports under the roof of his complex, Mr. Noivadhana has been forced to close the doors on that dream.
The facility, with its non-descript exterior shell sheltering two large playing fields, measuring 75 feet by 165 feet, with two levels of viewing and a lower level for parties or coaches’ meetings, now sits vacant.
“It was hard to say good-bye to all my customers [and] tell them ‘You can’t play here anymore,'” Mr. Noivadhana said Sunday. “It was very sad.”
Yet as Mr. Noivadhana, a Brookfield resident, says goodbye to the town, Sherman resident Warren Rubin has plans to build a 21,877-square-foot indoor sports complex, just around the corner on Still River Drive.
Now before the town’s Zoning Commission, the application cites several sports uses that would occur there, including yoga, palates, weight training and cardio training. A sprint track would be in the facility as well as a golf simulator.
A public hearing on the proposed complex closed July 25. Paul Szymanski, P.E., who was presenting the proposal, was questioned by Danbury attorney David Bennett, who was representing The New Milford Sports Club, a similar complex located on Grove Street.
“My client welcomes the competition,” Mr. Bennett said after a public hearing session. “Competition is what makes for good business. They just want to assure that all of the town’s zoning regulations are followed.”
In compromise to complaints by Mr. Bennett that six silhouetted figures planned for the exterior of the building would constitute too much signage, Mr. Szymanski agreed to place only four of the 13-foot- high silhouettes of athletes engaged in sports on the exterior of the metal building.
To other complaints by Mr. Bennett, he similarly complied.
The present owner of the Still River Drive property, Tom Pilla, received approval in 2007 for a 20,000-square-foot industrial use building on the parcel. The sale of the property to Mr. Rubin would hinge on the Still River sports complex receiving zoners’ approval for special permit.
Our firm performed the following services in assisting Mr. Rubin with his project: Property Survey, Topographic Survey, Zoning Location Survey, Hydrology & Stormwater Management, Stormwater System Design, Sedimentation & Erosion Control Plans, Sanitary Sewer Design, Utility Layout, Roadway Design, Driveway Design, Sight Distance Analysis, Parking Lot Layout & Design, Traffic Circulation & Studies, Cuts & Fills Analysis, Low Impact Development, Wetland Soil & Watercourse Delineation, Soil Investigation & Testing, Local, State, & Federal Land Use Permitting. Contact us today at (860) 354-9346 to have us assist you with your next project.