The Windy City Fieldhouse facility in Logan Square, a neighborhood staple that has offered an area for households and folks of all ages to be energetic for greater than 25 years, will shut on the finish of August.

Murrel Karsh, co-founder and president of Windy City Fieldhouse Events, stated the corporate and Farpoint Development, the actual property firm that owns the property, couldn’t come to phrases on a lease settlement.

Karsh stated that as a lot as he and his companions would have appreciated to maintain the big indoor multi-sports advanced at 2637 W. Logan open, it has grow to be more and more costly to function within the metropolis. It will shut Aug. 31, a couple of months shy of its twenty sixth anniversary in December.

“Unfortunately, due to COVID and other circumstances, the industrial real estate market has exploded in Chicago, driving up prices, which drive up taxes,” Karsh stated. “It’s tough. Those costs keep going up dramatically, and as rent goes up that means your property taxes go up even more. So the numbers start becoming astronomical to where it is impossible to make it work.”

Representatives of Farpoint Development didn’t reply to an electronic mail searching for remark.

Karsh mirrored on the households and neighbors he’s gotten to know for the reason that web site opened its doorways in 1997, recognizing the impact the advanced’s closure can have on those that have come to determine it as a cornerstone of the realm.

“We hope that we have been able to touch their lives as much as they’ve been able to touch our lives and make living in the city, and being around and being healthy and getting exercise for their kids maybe just a little bit easier,” Karsh stated. “It’s been a great run, and we’re sad to see it end.”

Windy City Fieldhouse is a workforce constructing and leisure firm that focuses on company occasions and operates throughout the nation. The sports activities advanced on the Northwest Side is closing, however nothing else in regards to the enterprise will change, Karsh stated.

Thousands of households often go to the 55,000-square-foot facility — sufficient area for basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, soccer and different sports activities — for his or her youngsters to be energetic after faculty.

The facility additionally hosts private health packages and is a well-liked celebration vacation spot for teenagers. Groups of buddies and native leagues used the courts for pleasant pickup video games and extra aggressive tournaments.

Karsh stated they’ve been serving to league organizers discover different areas within the metropolis that may host their video games, such because the Bradley Fieldhouse in North Center.

Jared Ashe, basketball coach and director of Play Hard Hoops, a program that teaches children the basics of basketball, stated there aren’t many amenities like Windy City that may accommodate youth serious about this system.

“It’s a disappointment for our program and definitely a disappointment on how we can provide great after-school and outside-school activities for kids,” Ashe stated, including that oldsters have expressed to him what the power has meant to them through the years.

“There’s families and others who have shared many memories, who have used that space for birthday parties. There’s a feeling of disappointment,” Ashe stated. “There are facilities in other parts of the city that are beautiful, but it’s just asking families to be able to drive a little bit further. It’s just a dampening feeling to what Windy City had provided at that location for so long.”

Karsh stated it’s been an “emotional” few months, and hopes that when doorways shut he gained’t be saying goodbye eternally to the group that has been so good to them.

“This was our baby, we want to make sure people know how much they meant to us, and while we won’t be able to see them out on the athletic courts, hopefully we will be able to see them at one of our picnics or other events,” Karsh stated.