A proposal to build a private paintball and airsoft sports park has received initial approval from the Truesdale city government.
The recreational facility, which would be called “Good Game …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
A proposal to build a private paintball and airsoft sports park has received initial approval from the Truesdale city government.
The recreational facility, which would be called “Good Game Sports Park,” was presented to the Truesdale Board of Aldermen Jan. 24 by entrepreneur Dustin Loeffler. It would be located along Veterans Memorial Parkway, east of Spoede Lane and directly northwest of the Heritage Hills subdivision. Aldermen heard the presentation during a special meeting on potential real estate developments.
Loeffler said his plans for the multi-acre facility include over a dozen fields, decorated with themes based on popular video games, sci-fi and superhero movies. The park would also have competitive tournament fields and a retail store to sell and rent paintball, airsoft, laser tag and nerf equipment.
Loeffler said he wants the facility to be able to host everything from interstate competitions to local family birthday events.
“My family is making a move to the Warren County area, and I was thinking I want there to be additional things for my kids to do here,” said Loeffler, who described his own history in competitive paintball play. “What I want this property to be ... is I want everyone in the community to be there. I want birthday parties there, I want memories to be built there.”
If the facility does well, Loeffler said he also has ideas for a half-dozen other commercial or recreational offerings that can be developed on the surrounding land.
Aldermen said they’re generally in favor of allowing plans for the paintball facility to proceed, but they first needed Loeffler to address potential concerns from neighbors in the adjacent subdivision. They asked several questions about what kind of traffic and noise to expect from the park.
Loeffler responded that the play fields would be separated from homes by a tree barrier on the east and south sides. He expects 100-200 visitors in the park during active days, which are mostly on the weekends. Noise would be no louder than traffic from Interstate 70, with no electronic sound system, Loeffler said. He added that the park would have three full-time staff members and around 20 part-time employees.
Aldermen gave their blessing for Loeffler to proceed with planning for the project, but said he will need to return for a final approval once a fully engineered site plan for the property is developed. If he gets approval, Loeffler said he plans complete his purchase of the property in March and get the first playing field open by May.
In the meantime, community members are being invited to provide public feedback about the proposed facility during a town hall meeting to be held Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. in the MaryLou Community Building at Bruer Park.
“I think this would be great for the community,” commented Mayor Chris Watson.
Another proposed development, a 200-home subdivision being planned just to the east of the paintball site, will also be discussed during the Jan. 31 gathering.
