16 SportsTurf | August 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com
Facility & Operations | By Jeff McGaw
S
ome dads build their kid a treehouse or a
fort in the backyard.
Former Auntie Anne's Pretzel giant Sam
Beiler built his daughter the largest and most
spectacularly diverse, sports, entertainment
and events complex in North America—Spooky Nook
Sports.
Beiler originally wanted to build a few volleyball courts
as a nod to his daughter's competitive passion, but when
big dreams meet big dollars, big things happen and Spooky
Nook is, if nothing else, big.
The massive, 50-plus acre complex lies in the rural heart
of Pennsylvania's Amish country in East Hempfield Twp.,
minutes from downtown Lancaster. Despite its middle-of-
nowhere feel amid farmland, Spooky Nook now appears
on the international sporting map as it is the new home for
the US Women's Field Hockey program, formerly based in
Southern California.
Moreover, the Nook is a veritable Ellis Island of amateur
athletics welcoming sweat-soaked masses yearning to play
from Pennsylvania and beyond. A July basketball tourna-
ment drew more than 350 teams. A national field hockey
tournament in February drew 161 teams.
The air dome, the facility's signature landmark, resembles
a giant bed pillow and is easily visible from the nearby high-
way. The Astroturf field beneath it must be watered regularly
in order to comply with international field hockey safety
standards.
Adjacent to the pillow is the sprawling, metal exterior
of a massive, former distribution warehouse for Armstrong
Flooring. The 700,000 square feet beneath that roof is where
the Nook's legend is being forged.
TOuring The new hOme
OF uSA Field hOckey
Some of the
60,000 square-feet of
Connor Hardwood, the
largest single expanse
of Connor Hardwood in
the world.
