Midland City Council Approves Exciting New Indoor Athletic Complex

The planned indoor athletic complex would be in west Midland and would be able to house basketball and volleyball tournaments.

The Council Chamber was packed on Tuesday with residents in favor of the athletic complex and wanted to see how Midland leaders would vote on the indoor athletic complex.

Those residents were pleased when the council voted unanimously to approve the indoor facility without discussion.

The facility would be 103,000 square feet with six full-size basketball courts, 12 volleyball courts, and additional space for an indoor soccer field.

The cost of the facility will be right around $30 million and will be raised entirely with private funds and making Midland as viable as Abilene to host basketball and volleyball tournaments.

The Midland complex will be based on the Dodge Jones Center in Abilene, according to the facility concept developers.

“I think it was a huge win today,” said Midland Mayor Lori Blong. “And I think that the evidence was all the support that they had in the audience, all the people that had filled out supportive notes to us, and we received emails of encouragement to support this project. But then also people showed up today to make their voices heard. Not even wishing to speak but just to by their presence to say this is something we believe Midland needs.”

Austen Campbell and John Scharbauer represent the Midland Athletic Syndicate, the non-profit organization funding the project, and said they have gotten overwhelming support from everybody on Midland City Council.

“So, I think everybody's excited for us to move forward and get something built that everybody's proud of,” said Campbell.

The facility will be built at the Scharbauer Sports Complex.