ST. LOUIS — Dan Buck, managing partner of the group that operates the Powerplex, says a long term lease deal could not be reached with the new property owner, and the facility here will close on May 1st.
The original Powerplex vision was to have a major amateur sports facility that would have included 18 volleyball courts, eight beach volleyball courts, an 84,000 square foot event center, five turfed ball fields, and three other fields under a five acre sports dome. While that never materialized, the venue here has provided a lot of community services since opening in 2018.
During the pandemic, 34 drive-in high school graduations were hosted at this location.
15 outdoor concerts also took place here, and there were multiple movie nights as well.
Buck says the facility also served more than 130 youth sports teams and other athletes in the volleyball, basketball, softball, and pickleball venues that operated here.
Buck says his group, called Big Sports Properties, invested more than two and a half million dollars in the former mall. However, it just wasn’t enough.
A statement from Buck reads in part, “A lot of current variables in the economy, including escalating interest rates, coupled with the tremendous demand for industrial space, required all the parties to make a very difficult decision. While disappointed that the full dream will not be realized here, we’re very proud of our team for everything we did achieve for the community since 2018.”
Buck says he has had preliminary discussions for an alternative Poweplex site. But he tells us it’s too early to announce anything definitive.