siness
•
Pea 0
Multisports
playgrounds are
gaining ground as
next-generation
health clubs.
JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER
ere's a stretch: The future of fit-
ness could be about fun rather
than fighting flab.
A novel idea, but one that has
only lately been realized by a few
young guys who are flexing their
financial muscles on two area
sports playgrounds.
"I think people are moving
away from aerobics. They want
to have fun when they work out,"
said Harry Greenspan, co-owner of Oakland
Yard Athletics in Waterford, which opened
in May.
"We think facilities like ours will be the
health clubs of the '90s, where you can ex-
ercise and have fun as opposed to getting on
a machine and pounding away for the per-
fect body," said Brian Siegel, co-owner of Joe
Dumars' Fieldhouse in Shelby Township,
which opened five months ago.
Both operations offer indoor/outdoor team
and solo sports ranging from roller hockey
to sand volleyball. Mr. Siegel said the Field-
house will host 130 roller hockey teams in
the fall — the largest roller hockey league
in the state and perhaps in the country.
Since it opened its gates in the spring,
traffic at Oakland Yard has steadily in-
creased, said 26-year-old Mr. Greenspan,
who is in partnership with his brother Mar-
tin and Philip Douse, both 32.
About 250 customers use the 10-acre fa-
cility every day — more if tournaments are
scheduled — but Mr. Greenspan expects
many more once the fully-automated golf
dome and in-line skating track are in place.
Oakland Yard now offers roller hockey, ul-
timate frisbee, flag football, regulation soc-
cer and a three-deck restaurant/bar.
"We're still growing, but everything is
done. Everyone who comes and plays keeps
signing up. It's doing terrific," Mr.
Greenspan said.
While he worked in residential building
for a few years and Martin was an engineer
in California, the concept for Oakland Yard
essentially flowed in their blood.
The Greenspans' father, Marshall, has
been in the sports business for 25 years,
building both the Franklin Racquet Club
and Square Lake Racquet Club, the first
place in the area to introduce indoor soccer.
And, it was an idea whose time had ac-
tually come a while ago but nobody bothered
to run with it.
"I believe if these places would've gone up
10 years ago they would've been just as suc-
cessful. You ever run into something so ob-
vious it slaps you in the face? This is one of
those ideas," Mr. Greenspan said.
The three partners, all Birmingham res-
idents, raised $2.5 million from private in-
vestors, convinced Waterford to rezone the
property from light industrial to recreational
and then set out to build Oakland Yard.
Mr. Siegel, 31, Scott Kaufman, 29, and
Detroit Pistons captain Joe Dumars opened
the Fieldhouse at M-59 and Mound Road in
February for $3 million.
Ever since then, Mr. Siegel has fielded
about 10 phone calls a week from curious
entrepreneurs looking to open similar facil-
ities out of state.
'We were the first facility of our kind in
the country, as far as we know. I
think there are a great number of
Left:
similar facilities being developed
Basketball action In front of
Oakland Yard's observation deck. around the country," he said.
Like Oakland Yard, the Field-
Below:
house is a magnet for bar mitzvahs,
Annette Gray warms up before
weddings and other events where
a game.
PLAYING page 50
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