Brady PieperOne Virginia community is revealing new plans to construct the first sports and entertainment complex in Pulaski County.
The county’s Board of Supervisors has announced the Pulaski County sportsplex, a new community-oriented project that will transform an existing county-owned site into the largest indoor multi-use center in Virginia. The project, developed in partnership with the county’s Sports Tourism & Entertainment Authority, seeks to enhance the county’s tourism, entertainment and recreational assets and bolster the local economy and residents’ quality of life.
“The Sportsplex will offer something for everyone of all ages, and the enterprising approach will not only make it affordable and sustainable for our citizens but will fuel direct and indirect revenues by way of our hospitality and services industry sectors,” Board of Supervisors Chair Laura Walters said in a press release.
The estimated $10.5 million project will be primarily funded by the county’s cigarette tax, which was implemented in 2021 as a strategy to fund school capital improvement programs. In 2024, the school board allocated $500,000 from this tax to support the county over 10 years.
The funding source, while unconventional, will allow the county to build the facility without raising taxes on residents.
While the project took more than 15 years to reach this point of development, including delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, the new facility will be located at the former Korona Candle factory in the Pulaski County Industrial Park.
This site will provide the county with a 165,000-square-foot space to house a variety of sports, entertainment and wellness activities.
The sportsplex will host up to eight basketball, volleyball and futsal courts, as well as two indoor turf soccer fields. The facility will also include 26 pickleball courts – two of which will be permanent – and an array of community amenities, such as a weight room, cardio room, senior fitness area, an indoor walking track and a 110-meter indoor sprint track.
Construction on the new sports and entertainment center will begin soon. The county anticipates opening the sportsplex’s doors to the local community and visitors by the summer of 2026.
The new indoor facility will bring the county up to standard with other communities around the nation, as 80% or more offer a community recreation center, according to county officials.
Pulaski County anticipates the facility will not only house sporting and recreational activities but will invest in the health, well-being and economic future of the region.
Sportsplex Rendering
Pulaski County
