Photo: @Mattew_Paras

Alex Ovechkin was in Springfield, Virginia Thursday morning to participate in a groundbreaking for the “St. James“, a 450,000 square foot Sports facility which will include two ice rinks. 

Ovechkin donned a ” St. James” sweater (that was eerily similar to a Torontno Maple Leafs sweater) for the occasion. More on the new facility can be found here. Fairfax County’s official website for the project can be found here.

Ovi and @CHICKatCSN at groundbreaking for The St. James in Springfield, a 450,000 sq. ft. sports facility that’ll have 2 rinks. pic.twitter.com/35iPVwADVC

— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikCSN) September 7, 2017

The new facility, to open in 2018, will be officially called the St. James Sport and Wellness Center, and will be located at  the 6800 block of Industrial Drive, near Backlick Road and the Mixing Bowl (just inside the Beltway).

Some of the features of the center will include:

• A multi-purpose turf field for full-length competitive soccer,
• lacrosse, football, field hockey and softball.
• Two NHL regulation-sized ice rinks for hockey, figure skating, open skating and curling.
• Aquatics center.
• Basketball and volleyball center.
• Baseball and softball center.
• Golf and racquet center.
• Gymnastics and dance center.
• Laser tag, rock climbing walls, and party rooms in a family entertainment center.
• Health and wellness center that will include orthopedic medicine, pre- and post-operative rehabilitation and pediatric care.
• Health club with cardio and strength training equipment and yoga, spinning and Pilates studios.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYv7flrHopr/

The center will be membership based, but non-members will be able to sign up for programs. It will accommodate 1,240 people, plus 900 spectators. In addition to regular sports and fitness activities, the center plans to host special events like tournaments, meets and athletic showcases on weekends.

Renderings and engineering site plans for the project:

A recent article by the Washington Business Journal can be found here

By Jon Sorensen