Last year, Henrietta’s Dome Arena, long a multipurpose venue, was converted into a pickleball club. Now the club has closed.
The ROC Dome Pickleball Club, which launched in November 2023, shuttered July 24, said Zachary Agliata, the club’s general manager.
“I received an email just saying we were shutting down immediately, and I was asked to handle some administrative duties and collect keys from employees,” he said.
He also canceled existing memberships and issued refunds to anyone who was owed one, he said.
The club offered 12 tournament-quality courts and had 2,400 people on its players’ list, a small number of whom had memberships, he said.
Agliata drafted an email to players about the closing but didn’t know whether it had been distributed. Two members we spoke to said they received no official notice and learned the news from fellow players.
Located at 2695 East Henrietta Road near Calkins Road, the 51-year-old Dome is owned by Dr. Seth Zeidman, a local neurosurgeon, and Frank Imburgia, president of FSI General Contractors.
Along with a group of other developers, the pair bought the distinctive structure and adjacent Minett Hall in 2015 for $2.8 million.
Neither responded to calls or emails seeking more information.
The Democrat and Chronicle visited the site twice during advertised business hours and encountered locked doors and an empty parking lot.
The club’s website is still up, but the reservations page lists it as closed.
Agliata was told the decision was financial but was not given specifics.
In early 2017, Zeidman and Imburgia unveiled an $8 million renovation of the Dome that took nine months to complete and included a new box office and concession areas and a new ceiling structure with LED lights running along the curved rafters.
Before COVID hit, the venue staged a number of concerts, including by Flogging Molly and Joywave. During the pandemic, it served as one of New York state’s mass vaccination sites. When the state lifted restrictions, the Dome hosted “Beyond van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.”
In 2023, Zeidman and Imburgia decided to go the pickleball route based on the sport’s soaring popularity and the demand for indoor courts here.
In a story about the club’s opening , Zeidman also cited the high cost of maintaining the cavernous 25,000-square foot space when it only hosted events periodically.
He put the price of converting the facility at $500,000. The circular floor had to be leveled, and the courts were created through a painstaking process of putting down eight layers of epoxy and other materials, he explained.
Susan Gollands of Rochester, who had been a member since January, said she was not surprised by the closing.
“There was no one there when we did use it, except for our group,” she said. And the last time she played, “It was hot and humid in there. There was no air conditioning that I could tell, so it wasn’t that comfortable.”
For decades, the Dome was a destination for everything from rock shows and roller derby bouts to conventions and high school graduation ceremonies.
It also became home base for the Monroe County Fair and originally was owned by the Monroe County Fair and Recreation Association.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood .
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Dome Arena pickleball club shuts down after brief run
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