Knox Co. group look into sports facility for community

KNOX COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– A group of residents in Knox County is looking to bring a sports facility to the community.

Knox Sports Complex has been in the works for several years– and expanded as a concept. President and founder Sally Bodensteiner said the original idea was to offer indoor tennis and swimming locations so local families had options to stay active in the colder months.

“Just having more activities for them year round,” she said. “This is the age of electronics and the kids are just glued to them and I want them doing activities instead of being on the screen.”

Bodensteiner spoke with potential partners, like the local YMCA and school corporations, as well as other residents, and eventually, it grew into much more. Now, she hopes to also offer batting cages, a rock-climbing wall and an indoor turf field, among other options.

The hope is to not only bring more people into the area through sports tourism, but also make things easier for those in the community.

“Parents are always talking about how they have to drive to Evansville to take them to travel ball, especially for tennis in particular,” she said. “That would be great to have that here.”

Right now, the group is looking to fundraise to purchase 17 acres of land in the area. They have also received letters of support from officials, like Vincennes Mayor Joe Yocum and the Vincennes City Council.

Knox County Commissioner Kellie Streeter is supportive of bringing in some sort of facility– but wants to make sure all options are vetted.

She said the Vincennes Knox County Visitors and Tourism Bureau is looking into doing a study on what a facility would look like– something that can provide clarity as multiple ideas are considered.

“We have a lot of great individuals in this community that have great ideas,” she said. “We want to support some sort of a facility, we’re not for sure what that’s going to look like. We’re just really wanting to see what a comprehensive study will identify is the best bang for our buck here in Knox County.”

Streeter said she does hope to see one of these projects come to fruition soon.

“Absolutely [it brings growth.] On many different levels, for the students that come here to Vincennes University ,for physicians and families of nurses here who come to seek out our hospital for employment,” she said. “Even those weekend travelers for whatever different sports they’re playing. Those people will use our hotels and our restaurants, it’s nothing but benefit to our community.”

Bodensteiner said she hopes to see more residents get involved– and hopefully help take this project to the next step.

“We’re hoping people will be supportive of it and just donate $5-10 a couple times over the next few months and we’ll be on our way,” she said.

More information on the group can be found here

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