Frederick Indoor Sports Center to close its doors after March | Real Estate And Development

The Frederick Indoor Sports Center, a mainstay of athletics in the city, will officially close its doors on March 31st.

The announcement was made via a letter posted on the FISC website and social media pages on Monday. In an interview Tuesday, the building’s owner, Tony “C” Checchia, told the News Post he was just as disappointed as everyone else the facility was forced to close.

The FISC facility at Brookfield Court has been open since 2000 and was originally named Frederick SportsPlex. Checchia took over the company after being approached by the previous building owner in 2009.

According to Checchia, he and his business partner Roby Malandrucco have been looking for a buyer to take over the facility for almost four years, hoping to continue operating it as a sports facility.

But without offers from the sports-related economy in the past few months, the decision was finally made to sell the facility in favor of commercial use. Checchia said a potential sports-related operator signed on just before the pandemic began, but COVID-19 and other issues meant that deal fell through.

“We had an operator on site. We were working to transfer ownership to this operator,” he said.

Checchia said a series of “personal health issues” on either side of that deal caused it to fall through and there have been no follow-up offers from sports companies.

Checchia said he and Malandrucco decided to put the company up for sale in September and began soliciting offers from non-sports companies in earnest for the first time.

“The offers came in September and we kept turning them down because we wanted to exhaust all possible options to find the buyer who would keep it running as a sports center,” Checchia said. “But for both personal and economic reasons, we’ve finally come to the realization that we can’t just wish, hope and pray that we find a sports buyer.”

Checchia said he had no record of confirming who the plant would be sold to as the deal was not officially finalized, but he said the plant would be used for industrial purposes. Checchia said the building is earmarked for this after receiving a special exemption in the city’s zoning ordinance in 1999 to operate as a sports facility.

However, Checchia stressed – in an attempt to combat rumors he had seen – that the building was not sold to Amazon.

Checchia said financial troubles caused by two years of a global pandemic were partly responsible for the decision to close, although they were looking for buyers before the pandemic. He said before the pandemic, FISC had peaked at 110 adult soccer league teams; So far only 60 teams are playing at the facility, which is a big loss of revenue for the company.

“We’ve still only reached 60 percent of our audience, and a majority of our adult audience isn’t playing because of COVID,” he said. “And I’m not blaming them, I’m just saying that’s the reality.”

He said it was a difficult personal decision; A longtime soccer player himself, Checchia says he was one of the first customers in the building long before he took over and he frequently played several soccer games a week.

Checchia thanked his business partner, employees, family and community for supporting FISC throughout his time.

Several Facebook users paid tribute to the company in the comments section of the announcement.

“We had indoor soccer there for so many years, soccer camps and lots of birthday parties,” wrote one. “Thank you for the memories!”

“I’ve had many indoor soccer games at FISC and also enjoyed a late night WHS graduation there,” commented another. “Lots of good memories. We wish the owner and the employees continued success.”

The FISC building houses a number of smaller businesses including Frederick Soccer Supplies, ITNeedsHelp and a PIVOT Physical Therapy location. Checchia, who is also the founder of Verita Commercial Real Estate, said he works with the companies to find them new homes.

Checchia said operations at the FISC will continue as normal until it closes on March 31. FISC is working to reimburse those who have booked events or paid to use the facility beyond that date, he said.

Follow Patrick Kernan on Twitter: @PatKernan