A new entertainment complex and
indoor/outdoor food court is under construction in Legacy Pointe.
A group of local developers has broken
ground for Legends Entertainment, a 46,000-square-foot complex that will house a
food court with five local restaurants, two bars, a bowling alley and gaming
for both kids and adults.
While plans for the new venture may draw comparisons
to Malibu Jack’s, which opened in Springfield at the end of 2023, plans for Legends
Entertainment predate the arrival of the indoor entertainment center at White
Oaks Mall.
“This has been planned long before Malibu
Jack’s, probably three or four years,” said Bill Marriott Jr., a broker with
The Real Estate Group and one of the managers for Legends Entertainment LLC,
along with Ben Call and Blake Gebhardt. “We’ve had an option on the property
for two-and-a-half years or more.”
Marriott said when plans began to
materialize for Scheels Sports Park, he and the other investors took “our own ideas
of what we’ve seen in other areas of the country and what we thought would work
well for this area.”
The food court will be home to five
different local restaurants and have a mix of seating, such as long tables,
high tops and booths. The 5,600-square-foot central seating area will be
temperature controlled and have garage doors that can be opened in nice
weather, plus a 4,400-square-foot open area patio with outdoor seating and yard
games.
Marriott said they have commitments from
Taco Gringo and three other area restaurants and are still trying to finalize a
fifth tenant. The goal is to have a wide variety of food options such as pizza,
wings, tacos, salads, desserts and more.
The entertainment complex will also include
a bowling alley with its own bar, an 8,000-square-foot arcade and adult video gaming.
Marriott said construction has recently
gotten underway.
“We’re doing the sewers, foundation, things
like that right now,” he said. “It won’t go vertical for another three or four
weeks.”
The opening of Legends Entertainment should
coincide with the opening of Scheels Sports Park.
“We’re just excited; we’d love for it to be
ready today but we understand the process,” Marriott said.
The goal is to be open by the first quarter
of 2026. Sports activities are expected to start at the Scheels Sports Park in
October, and it will be fully operational by March 2026. Once complete, the development
is projected to attract 2 million visitors per year, most of them out-of-town
traveling teams with families spending multiple nights in Springfield.
Plans for the sports park have already spurred interest from other developers. A local hotel ownership group, Legacy Hospitality, has a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott under construction just south of and adjacent to the existing SpringHill Suites by Marriott. It is scheduled to open later this summer.
And last month, an Indiana businessman announced his plans to construct a 60,000-square-foot Illinois Sports Hall of Fame on the grounds of the park.
