Lincoln Sports Foundation filling 'void' of Speedway change by adding volleyball courts

Less than eight months later, the Lincoln Sports Foundation is already looking to grow again.

On Sunday, the foundation announced a $1.6 million project to renovate its lobby and mezzanine space and convert existing indoor space to four more dedicated volleyball courts that can also be used for other purposes. The project would also include doubling restroom capacity. 

In a news release, the foundation also announced the sports complex near North 70th Street and Arbor Road -- formerly the Abbott Sports Complex -- will be called the Bison Indoor Sports Center.

The courts are expected to be ready by Oct. 1 in a 20,000-square-foot area that had been leased out by TrackVille, which operated a track and field training facility for the past six years.

The new space would join the complex's six existing hardwood courts and 20,000 square feet of indoor turf as well as a number of outdoor soccer fields and a football field.

The project will be funded with $1 million from the Lancaster County's Visitor Improvement Fund, which is funded by sales tax on dining and hotel stays. Half of the remaining money will come from a $300,000 grant, which is contingent on matching funds.

Sam Lesoing, the foundation's director of funding, said those matching funds would have to come from philanthropic donors and sponsorship opportunities. He hopes to raise the money within the next month.

Lesoing said the foundation also looked into moving TrackVille's track space to an alternate location but ran into funding issues.

The plan to add more courts comes after Speedway Sports Complex in southwest Lincoln announced it would transition six of its basketball courts to pickleball courts in June.

Speedway's renovation is scheduled to begin this fall, though the courts are still open, said Matt Cumro, the owner of the youth hoops organization Supreme Basketball.

Lesoing said there was a "mass panic" in Lincoln's youth sports community following the announcement, so the foundation made the project a priority.

"We started getting calls and a lot more demand and we were in the position where we already had the renovation in the works, and we knew that Lincoln was going to need more capacity," Lesoing said. "I think it's important for the community because we like court space and affordable access to court space."

Supreme Basketball, which has about 60 teams year round, uses Speedway multiple times a week to practice, but Cumro said they haven't had to miss any yet. While he's not sure how much longer Speedway will be available, he said his organization is "blessed" to have good relationships with the Lincoln Sports Foundation, the Kinetic Sports Complex and local high schools to fill in gaps if they have to.

But he knows some people won't be as lucky.

"Your smaller organizations, your independent one-off teams ... I feel for them in this situation, this environment, because I do think Speedway is a massive loss overall for the community of Lincoln and for those people that are looking to get some work in as well," Cumro said. "Fortunately, we have our gym space covered."

On the volleyball side, Gwen Egbert, coach and board member at Nebraska Juniors Volleyball Club, said the Lincoln Sports Foundation's complex has allowed her organization to offer more programming.

"Just having the building available for people to call up and use ... is huge," Egbert said. "(It's) a wonderful option that Lincoln really doesn't have."

The facility also brings people in from around the country, hosting several events this year, including training sessions for Drum Corps International and national youth archery competitions, including the Junior Olympic Archery Development U.S. Open, which brought more than 900 archers to Lincoln. Organizers estimated the event generated $1.6 million in local economic impact.

The facility has first right of refusal for the archery nationals in 2027 and the first round of the sport's 2028 Olympic qualifiers, Lesoing said.

Derek Bombeck, Visit Lincoln's director of sports, said the organization is excited about the facility, which will help fill the gap created by Speedway's switch to pickleball.

"Lincoln, Nebraska, is one of those sports tourism capitals of the Midwest, and anytime we can enhance our facilities and grow our court population is a good thing," Bombeck said. "Lincoln Sports Foundation's going to fill some of that void."

Last summer, the Lincoln Sports Foundation announced a $1.2 million renovation that eventually added six hardwood basketball courts that can be reconfigured for volleyball.

That renovation marked the latest in a series of improvements since the foundation gained control of the facility in 2018 through a legal settlement with the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation, which had decided to no longer invest money in the complex and put it up for sale.

Long term, the facility could be heading for another expansion. 

"Lincoln is a big community, but it's not the biggest community," Lesoing said. "I think it's important to invest in facilities that are already there."