UPDATE: Indoor Sports Complex Planned for Vacant Nursery

UPDATE: Kevin Loftus, managing member for the proposed Field House, explained that plans for the facility call for the Flynn Avenue entrance to be closed and landscaped, and an access point added coming off of Glen Avenue.

He said that was written into the plans specifically to address potential traffic concerns, since the site is in a residential area.

"It made no sense for us to put traffic onto Flynn Avenue and affect the neighbors," Loftus said.

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A pair of entrepreneurs have big plans for the vacant Moorestown Gardens building off North Church Street.

Loftus Construction CEO Kevin Loftus and business partner Kevin McCabe have submitted plans to convert the property into an indoor multi-sport training facility, with an artificial turf playing field, batting cages and more, according to documents in the township planning office.

In its current form, the plan calls for the vacant building and overgrown lot at 410 Flynn Ave. to be converted into a sports facility in two phases. The first phase calls for the demolition of a portion of the existing building—a former wholesale nursery—renovations, and construction of a 2,548 square foot addition.

Phase two calls for construction of a 33,428 square foot addition.

Loftus, who is listed in the plans as managing member of the facility (presently dubbed "The Field House"), stressed the project is "only slightly out of its infant stages."

He said their plans are spread out over the next two years, but added, "We're hoping to have some part of the facility operational this year."

Having recognized an ever-increasing interest in sports and sports training, Loftus and McCabe, operating under Flynn Avenue Associates, LLC, began looking at properties at the end of last year and purchased the Flynn Avenue site in February.

"It's not even necessarily a Moorestown-specific entity," Loftus explained. "Sports have become a year-round thing. The need for the facility has always been there."

He said the facility would accommodate multiple sports—including lacrosse, field hockey and soccer—with the potential to hold both practices and games there at some point in the future.

Though any construction is still likely months away, Loftus said they've already reached out to property owners near the facility to inform them of their plans.

"Our sincere goal is to develop a facility that not only provides a service to the community and its children, but to do so without affecting our neighbors and to become part of the local community," Loftus wrote in an open letter to nearby property owners.

The proposal is set to go before the planning board at its next meeting on June 6, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the IT room at Moorestown High School.