Strongwood custom indoor golf enclosures – built to a ‘tee’
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December 29, 2025
LAWRENCE – Sports Emporium’s new, 82,000-square-foot, “state-of-the-art” facility located off Interstate 41 in the Town of Lawrence – a project that’s been “five years in the making” – is set to open following the new year, Derek Rhodes, executive director, said
“We’ll open in early January,” he said. “We just have some final touches here on the turf, the nets and stuff. As soon as those are set to go, then we’ll transfer to that building.”
In the June 16 Issue of The Business News, Rhodes said Sports Emporium – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, per sportsemporiumgb.com – broke ground on the project prior to meeting its fundraising goal.
“We… felt like we were in a good spot to start with the building process and to really get this thing moving forward,” he said.
Now, with the help of the organization’s numerous community partners, Rhodes said the facility is mere weeks away from opening.
“[Going] from those early stages, five years ago, to now – two, three weeks away from being finalized – is just so exciting,” he said. “The facility is absolutely state-of-the-art and something northeastern Wisconsin just doesn’t have. [It] will definitely be catering to thousands and thousands of athletes and, specifically, youth athletes.”
Offerings, support, appreciation
The driving mission behind Sports Emporium’s new, indoor turf and sport court facility, Rhodes said, is expanding the region’s access to year-round athletic programming.
“We’ll be offering volleyball on about 40,000 square feet [of sport court], which will be [the new home of] One Wisconsin Volleyball,” he said. “Then, [for] our portion – the turf sports – we’ll be offering lacrosse, youth football, a lot of soccer programming and we’ll also have so many community partners that [will be able to] utilize our space for their youth programs as well.”
Rhodes said the community’s overall access to the facility – whether that be through club sport or community organization membership, party rentals or public events – is what makes the Sports Emporium “an important staple for the sports community here in northeastern Wisconsin.”
Though a long road, Rhodes said Sports Emporium’s community partners – such as Toonen Properties in De Pere, Baycare and Aurora Health Care, as well as Luxemberg-based D&S Machine Service and Festival Foods – helped make the project possible.
“I think one of the things that has been so exciting to see is the support of the different partners we’ve been able to establish as an organization through this whole process,” he said. “The motivation from a lot of different people and the support they’ve been able to give, monetarily, has been absolutely unbelievable.”
Previously, Rhodes said construction cost was an ever-moving needle, but – thanks to the support of its community partners – Sports Emporium has “been able to stay on budget throughout the project – which has been fantastic.”
Because it’s a nonprofit organization, Rhodes said it’s especially important for Sports Emporium to fundraise and spend its money mindfully.
“Obviously, as a nonprofit organization, something that’s so important for us is that we use our dollars wisely for our customer base and for the community,” he said. “So, [I’m] really proud we’ve been able to do that, really stay on course and be good stewards of the sponsorship and the partnerships we’ve been able to establish.”
Rhodes said those behind the fundraising initiatives and partnership programs that have tush-pushed the project to completion – Sports Emporium’s dedicated team – deserve “a big shout-out” as well.
“We were just so short-staffed through this entire project,” he said. “Our staff have absolutely been unbelievable in supporting me through this entire process.”
For updates on its new facility’s grand opening, find Sports Emporium on Facebook.
“We’ll [host] something in early 2026 to celebrate the opening of the facility,” he said, “but more than anything, we’re just excited to get the doors open to the public so these customers and our youth can start to enjoy the space.”
