MATTOON — The indoor portion of a 150-acre indoor/outdoor Mattoon sports complex — the Emerald Acres Sports Connection — is projected to open in November, while the exterior facilities could open next year. While that would appear to be a competitive threat for the Rantoul Family Sports Complex, local officials aren’t concerned. They said they believe Rantoul’s facility will continue to do just fine.
Ed Dowd, executive director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce, said the community is thrilled with the projected influx of related retail and restaurant business coming as a result of the $80 million facility. “Everybody’s thrilled to not only have the indoor center that will open, but we will have substantial retail business and restaurants coming,” Dowd said. The Emerald Acres indoor center will host basketball and volleyball games.
Dowd said the outdoor portion of the complex, which will have eight full-size baseball diamonds, 14 youth baseball/softball diamonds, 20 soccer/lacrosse fields and two football/rugby fields, is expected to open next year. “There are estimates of 500,000 additional visitors to our community,” Dowd said. While the $25 million Rantoul sports complex is impressive on its 70-acre campus, Mattoon’s will be more than double the size (150 acres) at more than three times the cost ($80 million).
The indoor facility, which will take up 3.4 of those acres (150,000 square feet), will include eight basketball courts and 16 volleyball courts.