Day Hill Dome closer to reality

Windsor zoning panel backs proposed indoor sports facility project

WINDSOR — With approval last week from Windsor’s Planning and Zoning Commission, the project known as the Day Hill Dome is one step closer to becoming a reality.

The indoor soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and football game site will feature a 100,000 squarefoot, clear-span, full-sized field with an 80-foot-high ceiling and playing surface that meets NCAA regulations.

The dome will also feature custom engineering that organizers say will be the first of its kind in the Northeast because it will allow visitors to travel between the support area and the field without going through an airlock to gain access to bathrooms, concession stands or other amenities and an area where visitors not participating in a game can relax in a climate controlled atmosphere with Wi-Fi capabilities.

The Day Hill Dome is the vision of Vincent DiCarlo and is a by-product of his professional experiences as a sports information director and as a parent raising children involved in athletics.

DiCarlo, president and general manager of the facility, said Friday that years of visiting facilities and seeing what worked and what didn’t in both roles led him to thinking that he could come up with something that served both the athlete and the parent, as well as coaches and fans.

“I wanted to create a place that people wanted to come to,” said DiCarlo, who will lease the land from its owner, Mark Greenberg.

The dome, which is expected to open by fall of 2021, will be the

second phase in Greenberg’s effort to create a multisport complex in Windsor, joining the Fastpitch Nation softball complex, which opened two years ago and has sold out tournaments with girls fast pitch travel teams from around the country.

DiCarlo hopes to mirror the softball complex’s success by hosting tournaments for teams of all levels locally, regionally and nationally. The development will also feature three multipurpose, full-size, lighted outdoor fields for the same sports that will be played indoors.

There are also plans for a hotel, restaurants and a brew pub.

DiCarlo said that after a lull for a few months as town departments considered his plans, construction should move ahead quickly.

“Nowwe’refull speed ahead,” said DiCarlo who expects construction to begin by December.

Windsor Mayor Donald Trinks said Friday that he credited the town’s fathers for their vision in the creation of the Day Hill Road corridor.

“Now that it’s home to world class industry, a recreation component is the perfect complement,” Trinks said.