So many children and adults have gotten a kick out of an indoor fitness venue in Wilmington, the owner is aiming to expand into a larger facility.
Janine Blaisdell, owner of Off the Wall at 203 Antilles Court in Dutch Square, said she hopes to eventually move her business, which has been on Antilles Court for about six and a half years, to an indoor/outdoor recreation facility that would be built at 4615 Gordon Road.
"It would be double the space of what we're currently in," Blaisdell said Tuesday.
A community meeting on the project is planned for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2 at the current Off the Wall Sports location, and site plans by Cindee Wolf of Design Solutions show a 26,400 square foot recreational facility with outdoor sports fields, a parking lot and room for future expansion. The site is behind a new Shell convenience store and requires approval by New Hanover County.
Off the Wall offers indoor soccer, lacrosse, dodgeball, kickball, field hockey, basketball and other ball games, along with children's birthday parties, after-school programs and camps.
As examples of the demand for the venue's services, Blaisdell said, "If you want to book a birthday party in here in December, you better do it now. We're doing camps this week and we're full. We have a waiting list for after-school programs. We have outgrown this facility."
Of the Off the Wall philosophy, she said, "We believe that children should be exposed to many different sports. We try to be a little bit of a cross between the old days when everybody went outside and played with the neighborhood kids and PE class."
The new location would be less than 10 minutes away from the facility's current address.
"Our schools that we serve right now are Ogden, Eaton, Blair, Murrayville and College Park," Blaidsell said of the elementary school children Off the Wall's after-school programs. "It's still in close proximity to those schools. We may potentially add schools, such as Wrightsboro or Castle Hayne if we are allowed to expand into that area."
There's also planned housing development in the area that could bring in even more customers who need activities for their children, she said. Off the Wall also has men's and women's soccer leagues and lacrosse sessions for middle and high school boys.