Developer Andrew Borgia of New York-based Fast Track Realty is proposing a sports complex near Route 5 that he says will bring up to 500 jobs to the area.
All Sports Village would be built at the now vacant MassMutual office park just off Interstate 91, and include indoor and outdoor areas for competition in several sports, a hotel, a family entertainment center, restaurants, bars, meeting rooms, sports-related retail, fitness and medical centers, an Enfield Sports Hall of Fame, and possible upgrades to Brainerd Park.
Borgia appeared before the Town Council this week to provide an overview of his proposed sports complex and to ask that the council refer the proposal to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Part of Borgia’s proposal is leasing 11 fields at Brainerd Park, which is adjacent to MassMutual. If the town leases any portion of public land, the PZC must approve it.
The council voted 9-1 to refer the proposal to the PZC, with Town Council member Ken Nelson removing himself from any votes having to do with the project, as he is serving as a representative of Borgia in the purchase of the MassMutual property.
Borgia was planning to build a similar sports complex in Windsor Locks on a 76-acre private property on Route 20, between I-91 and Old County Road, but he said his deal was delayed several times during the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually brought to an end.
He has a signed contract with MassMutual to buy the 65-acre vacant property. The project would comprise three buildings with various amenities, such as the hotel, restaurants, bars, retail, and fitness center. There would also be an arcade, virtual golf, bowling, sports simulators, electric go-karts, and bumper cars.
Should the PZC approve renting 11 fields at Brainerd Park, Borgia is proposing refurbishment and upgrades, including new playgrounds, a basketball court, tennis courts, picketball courts, tree plantings, new softball fields, rebuilding the current softball field to the same specifications, and the creation of a fund to help pay for the upkeep of Enfield’s parks and fields.
Borgia said All Sports Village would bring 250 to 300 full-time jobs, hundreds of part-time jobs, and hundreds of construction jobs. Preference would be given to Enfield residents and companies.
He said part of the project also would include repairing erosion problems at Brainerd Park that cause flooding on Route 5 as part of the land-use permitting process.
The Town Council was generally enthusiastic about the proposal, although a few members lamented the loss of fields at Brainerd Park.
Town Manager Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said the country has reinvented itself since the pandemic when people started to work remotely. As a result, she said, there’s a shrinking interest in commercial real estate, and foot traffic in the town’s central business district is down from 2019.
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