GOOOAAAAALLL! Dream comes true with Phase 2 of 17 Springs

It was all smiles, goals and backflips as the ribbon was cut on Phase 2 of 17 Springs.

Hundreds gathered last week to officially open The Fieldhouse at 17 Springs. Now youth wanting to play indoor sports have a chance at high quality facilities. The Fieldhouse could have been more fields. But instead, a dream came true for Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley.

Kelly stood up at the podium and could only say one word to the hundreds gathered inside The Fieldhouse for a ribbon cutting ceremony.

“Wow,” Kelley said as looked over the crowd.

Some of that crowd had played a quick game of basketball beforehand. Others were waiting for the ceremony to be over to practice volleyball. The Stanhope Elmore High School Soccer team’s Thomas Richardson scored the first goal in the new stadium against Opelika. He celebrated with a backflip in front of his team mates.

Kelley went on to explain he had a dream about The Fieldhouse. 

“My dream was about a metal building kids could play in,” Kelley said. “I shared it with the partners and they added the wow factor.”

The Fieldhouse now houses four basketball courts that can be converted into two volleyball courts each. The indoor facility can host festivals and more. It has meeting rooms and the downstairs locker rooms spill out onto a track and football field. The complex also has six diamond fields for softball and up to U12 baseball.

This is on top of the four soccer fields, 12 tennis courts and 12 pickle ball courts officially opened last year. 

It will soon be joined by announcements in The Marketplace at 17 Springs where almost all of the available lots have been spoken for. It’s anticipated that two hotels, restaurants and other retailers will locate in the complex just steps from the competition.

“It has gotten a lot of attention,” Millbrook economic development director Ann Harper said. “We hope to be able to start telling people who is coming.”

17 Springs is possible because of a private/public partnership between the YMCA, Elmore County Commission, the Elmore County Economic Development Authority, The Elmore County Board of Education and the City of Millbrook.

The project and its guests will help fund quality of living projects across Elmore County through a levelized lodging tax. 

The YMCA is charged with operating the complex, over half of which is built on property donated to the organization. It has already landed half of the Blue Gray Tennis Tournament, hosted AHSSAA regional tennis tournaments. Now with The Fieldhouse and its fields, 17 Springs can host softball tournaments and track events to go with the basketball, volleyball and wrestling inside.

The complex is unique even for the YMCA

“There is not one like this in the state,” Montgomery Area YMCA CEO A.J. Hernandez said. “The Y does have some things like this in metro areas that we can rely on for learning how to manage this.”

Elmore County Commission chair Bart Mercer said the project shows what cooperation looks like. 

“This shows what you can do when you put personal and political agendas aside,” Mercer said. “This is a great day for all of Elmore County.”